When the Bells Ring
by Danellie Olivia
Summary: After the events of Episode 10, Masaru, Tohma, and Yoshino are sent by DATS to Canada to retrieve a Digimon, and meet new allies along the way. Little do they know that these encounters will lead them into a dangerous cycle of distrust, fear and hatred between the two species, a cycle that is only further exacerbated by personal secrets, lies, and betrayals. Chapter 13 is up.
1. Prologue

_A/N: _My first story, featuring a drastic rewrite of Digimon Savers with lots of OCs. I was inspired to write this after being left unsatisfied with the lack of character development in the canon series. Important themes from the show such as the possibility of world peace, parental abandonment, and human nature will be expanded upon. Finally, although it may not seem like it at first, the OCs and events in the prologue will later be pivotal to the overall plot.

**_With the exception of Kudamon, canon characters will appear in the next chapter_**.

Rated T for eventual violence, death, and sensitive topics dealing with trust and identity, if you know what I mean. In regards to the 6/4 Incident referenced at the beginning of the story, I mean no disrespect to those who have died and suffered on and since that day.

Lots of thanks and love to my brilliant sister for wasting countless hours proof-reading my grammar, diction, etc... and offering suggestions.

Disclaimer: Digimon Savers is the property of Toei Animation. I do not own anything except my OCs.

* * *

_1989 June 4, Beijing, China _

A loud horn blasted through the air for a good minute or so, and then there was silence for the first time that night.

"_Onee-sama_! It's dangerous for us to stay here any longer!"

Long and curly dark hair moved slightly in surprise, but the owner of that pitch-black hair never moved her eyes away from the sight before her. While green tanks rolled away in the distance, the Gate of Heavenly Peace was burning with the bloody corpses of people strewn around and left behind.

The speaker, a small seventeen year old boy, slowed down when he saw his sister... and what she was staring blankly yet.

"She's not responding, Sakurano-_kun_" said a solemn voice from beneath, startling the boy. Glancing down, he saw that a white ferret-like creature with golden markings all over its body. "I take it you two have never seen death before?" the creature asked the boy as it wagged its tail. The golden bell at the end of its tail chimed softly.

"Kudamon, you shouldn't be here!" the boy exclaimed as he quickly swept the creature into the safety of his arms. "I thought I told you to stay back at the shack!" he scolded the ferret.

Kudamon just swung his tail back and forth in a calm matter. "The mice were very bothersome" the creature finally replied matter-of-factly. Then, sheepishly he added: "And… I was worried about you and Sakurano-_san_, Sakurano-_kun_. After-all, Patamon and I did vow to always watch over you."

"Kudamon…" the boy whispered at his small friend. Suddenly, without warning, the creature leapt out of his arms and scurried towards his sister and Patamon.

The boy gasped in surprise. "_Matte_ Kudamon, wait for me!" he cried, running after the creature.

* * *

"Manami_, _your_ otouto-san_ is right," an orange creature greatly resembling a hamster with wings whimpered as a gunshot was heard in the distance. "If we do not leave now, then those soldiers will find us and then..." The creature winced as another shot was heard.

"How could they?!" Manami blurted out angrily. "Those people were the same age as I!" She shook with fury as she glared at the burning hell before her. Nevertheless, she somehow managed to pull herself to her feet. "I won't show them any mercy!" Manami vowed. "Patamon, let's go!" she ordered, turning to her companion.

"No, Manami," Patamon protested fiercely, "You cannot! The hate and anger inside; you must conquer it! You have to forgive yourself first!"

The dark-haired girl spun around to glare at the creature. "Why?! Why are you defending those murderers?! We're doing this for the students, for those who are weak and who can't defend themselves! Isn't that the right thing for us to do?!"

Patamon sighed heavily. "Is that really your motive, or is it just an excuse?" he finally asked quietly as the young woman stared at the flying creature, wondering what it meant.

"ONEE-SAMA!" A shout startled the tense atmosphere, causing Manami and Patamon to turn in the direction of the sound. They caught sight of a boy and its companion running towards them.

"Mamoru, Kudamon, go away!" Manami shouted at her younger brother, but it was more like an order. "It's dangerous here!" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow of a PLA soldier appear behind her younger brother and his companion.

In the red night, Manami saw the blank face of the soldier. She saw him raising the barrel of his rifle towards her brother. Her _otouto_: the only family she had left. Fright and panic engulfed her. She had to save him. She just _had_ to...because...because...

The trigger was pulled.

"Mamoru!" Manami screamed, just as a warm but familiar feeling burst forth from her heart…

Mamoru slipped and fell on his stomach just as the flying bullet missed his head. "O_neesama_, Patamon, this _hikari_…" he gasped as he stared at the warm white light coming from his sister and Patamon.

"This is…?!" Kudamon stopped in his tracks. "This light is…the light of evolution!" he realized.

* * *

Patamon not only saw the light, but he also felt it with all his heart and soul.

"This is the light of an angel!" Patamon exclaimed joyously as he leapt towards the soldier. A new power was burning inside the creature's small body, a new power of hope and light:

"Patamon evolve to…Angemon!"

A majestic male angel adorned in blue and white robes emerged out of the light in a gust of white feathers. The upper part of its holy face was concealed by a silver helmet and in his right hand he held a golden sceptre.

"I am Angemon, a servant of God!" the creature's voice rang out for all to hear, "With his light and power in me, I will deliver justice!"

"Patamon…is that really you?" Manami finally managed to squeak out. At her voice, the angel turned his head towards her.

"Manami, it was your sincerity and your love for your younger brother that allowed me to evolve," the holy creature said in a gentle but firm voice. "_Arigatou_, my _hikari_."

"Love..." Manami repeated.

Meanwhile, Angemon had diverted his attention back to Mamoru, Kudamon, and the surprised PLA soldier with them.

"God will not allow evil to touch those who are still innocent!" Angemon declared as the golden sceptre was raised high above his head. "Understand this, remember this, and be free of the darkness within you, Human!"

Mamoru gasped as the sceptre began to glow a brilliant golden light, emitting bright rays of white light. He heard the soldier behind him yelp and a pair of feet shuffling: Could the man run away in time?

"**Holy Rod!**" The angel shouted, and then there was light...

When Manami opened her eyes, the sight before her greeted with utter horror.

"He..." the woman blurted out as she stared at the limp body of the soldier in front of her. Blood was oozing from his temple. A little further off, Mamoru and Kudamon were also staring at the body, with the fear in the boy's face overshadowing his sadness.

"Manami…" The woman spun around quickly. Looking down, she slowly picked up an exhausted Patamon that was at her feet.

"_Naze_ Patamon? Why did you kill him?" Manami asked quietly.

"I didn't, Manami; the human killed himself," came Patamon's soft and sad reply.

"He committed…suicide?" Manami glanced back towards the dead soldier and for the first time, saw that the gun was still in his hand. "Why?" she asked the corpse, knowing full well that she would never receive an answer. _Was it guilt?_ She thought.

Suddenly, she, the Digimon, and the corpse were surrounded by a dozen more PLA soldiers in their dark green uniforms. They all had their guns raised… at Mamoru. Fear had never caught Manami so off guard. She wanted to run and defend her _otouto_, but fear already paralyzed her.

One of the soldiers shouted something in Chinese. Mamoru couldn't understand a word he was saying, but even he knew that he was being accused for killing the soldier before them.

_For a murder that I didn't even commit, I'm going to die right here, right here in front of my sister..._ the teenager realized with a smirk as one of the soldiers barked and then...

"**Zekkoushou!**" A curtain of bright light rained down between the boy and the soldiers. Mamoru felt a sudden pain in his neck as something bit him, and then all was darkness…

* * *

"Kudamon saved us" Patamon said quietly. "If he hadn't distracted the soldiers with his attack, we wouldn't have been able to escape from them back there."

"Yes, but he and Mamoru…" Manami gasped as she ran into a dark back alley. "What will become of them?" The woman cried as she sank to the ground. She leaned her back against the cold and dirty wall, shutting her eyes from despair and fatigue.

"Manami, your _otouto_-_san_ is already fifteen years old," Patamon gently reminded his companion. Manami slowly opened her weary eyes. "He can take perfect care of himself. Manami, your brother will become a man in his own right, whether you like it or not. You can't babysit him forever; he has to make his own destiny, just as you must make yours, Sakurano Manami."

"Patamon…" Manami whispered. "Patamon, _arigatou_!" She repeated loudly and embraced the creature, breaking down completely.

_Manami, you are still very much a child..._Patamon sighed as he returned the hug.

"Here you are, Sakurano Manami-_san_. We have been looking for you for a very a long time."

The unfamiliar voice startled Manami out of her misery, partly because it was speaking to her in Japanese; very few people in China spoke her and Mamoru's native language. Slowly, Manami turned towards the voice.

The silhouette of a tall male stood in the dawn's early light at the entrance of the alley. As he took a few steps towards her and Patamon, Manami saw the face of a Chinese man probably not much older than she.

"_Sumimasen_, I didn't mean to frighten you_,_" the man apologized sincerely. It is then that Manami realized that she had been edging closer and closer towards the wall with Patamon. Unfortunately, just as she realized this, her foot slipped and she fell…right into the stranger's arms.

"_Daijoubu desu ka_, Sakurano_-san_?" The man asked worriedly. Manami wanted to distrust him; after all, no ordinary person in China would help a Japanese out of sheer kindness, right? Unfortunately, the woman made the mistake of looking into the man's eyes, and she gasped.

_This man's eyes..._ Manami realized. _They're like that person..._

"_Daijoubu_?" the man repeated.

"Yes…" Manami finally replied, snapping out of her thoughts. Almost immediately, the woman put her hands in front of her mouth; she had said that in English! But the man only smiled at her, and Manami began to feel that familiar warm sensation …

"It is alright. I understand English as well," the man said in English before switching back to Japanese. "Forgive me for my rudeness; I should have introduced myself first. My name is Wang Guo Liang. My father is currently one of the senior commanders in the People's Arm Police of China," Wang continued. Then, he caught sight of the orange hamster behind the woman that was glaring up at him. "Ah, nice to meet you too," the man greeted the creature with a bow. "You're Patamon-_san_, right?" he asked.

"How do you know about me?" Patamon asked suspiciously, never removing his eyes from the man's face. Manami glared at her companion, forcing Patamon to realize that shooting death glares at the son of the man in charge of the country's civilian police force wasn't the wisest thing to do.

"My father is one of the leading researchers of the Cyberspace Research Project that began about a year ago," Wang answered after Patamon finally stopped glaring at him. "We know all about your kind and the world you came from," he explained. "Do you know Bakumon?" he asked.

Patamon shook his head, but Wang continued to smile. "Well, he is my partner and best friend," he said. "Patamon-_san_, welcome to the human world."

"What do you want?" Patamon cut to the chase. "You were seeking out Manami, so what is your motive for doing so?" he asked.

Wang nodded as the smile on his face disappeared. "Sakurano Manami-_san_ and Patamon-_san_, the fate of the human world and that other world now depends on the two of you. So please, come with me and I will explain everything."

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Onee-sama: _'Older Sister' (very formal)

_Matte: _Wait (informal)

_Otouto: _Little brother

_Hikari_: Light

_Zekkoushou_: One of Kudamon's attacks. Literally means 'Blinding Ray'.

_Sumimasen_: 'Excuse me/sorry' (formal)

_Daijoubu desu ka: _'Are you alright?' (formal); _daijoubu_ is the shortened, more informal version.


	2. Chapter 1: Destination and Departure

_2008 January 30, Tokyo, Japan_

The primary operating room at DATS Headquarters erupted in light. When it cleared, the Digi-Egg on the Digital Dive was gone.

"Transfer of Digi-_tama _complete," computer operator Shirokawa Megumi announced as Kurosaki Miki, the other operator, sighed and leaned back in her seat. Before anyone could say anything, the room suddenly flashed bright red all over again.

"_Nani_? Another one so soon?" Fujieda Yoshino, the eldest of the DATS' core fighting team at the Japanese branch, exclaimed over the noise of the beeping alarms. "This is the worst!" she cried. Lalamon, her partner and best friend, nodded her little head in agreement.

"Just bring it on!" yelled Daimon Masaru, the most hot-headed of the team, as he rubbed his hands together. "No one can stop us, right, Agumon?"

Agumon, a large orange lizard-like creature with a head as hard and hot-tempered as Masaru, agreed. "Right! When we fight together, _aniki_ and I are-!"

"Stop it, this is really bad!" Miki interrupted loudly, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Apparently, this signal is coming from a country outside Japan!" the young woman spun around in her swivel chair to face the gasps from the others.

"Where is it?" asked Tohma H. Norstein, the most intelligent of the team, in a calm voice.

"It's… it's a city on the west coast of North America! It's Canada!" answered the raven-haired computer operator.

"Karaka… what is that?" Masaru blankly asked.

"_Baka_," Tohma sighed impatiently. "Not 'Karaka'; it's Canada! Ka-na-da!" Tohma spelt it out for his teammate. "Anyway," he said, returning to the matter at hand, "Why would a Digimon suddenly appear in a place like that?"

"Master…" Gaomon, a blue dog-like creature wearing red boxing gloves and standing on its hind legs looked up at his partner, trying to figure out his thoughts.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Tohma closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten as everyone else turned to look at Masaru. The teenager had a big grin on his face and his eyes were shining brightly with the lure of adventure and excitement. "I don't know about the rest of you, but Agumon and I are definitely going to Karaka-" the brunette began.

"Canada, _baka_!" Tohma interrupted his teammate as he felt his patience subsiding. "And how are the two of you going to get into the school without starting a world war, if I may ask? What would the government of Canada think if you suddenly ran into a school with a big orange lizard and started destroying the place?! With all the paranoia about terrorist activities going about right now-"

Masaru slammed his hands down on the counter. "What do you suggest then?" he snapped. "Are we just going to sit back and do nothing?! If we don't go to Karaka-"

"CANADA!" Tohma interrupted. "And no, we will not just sit back and do nothing!"

"Then what are we going to do?!" Masaru screamed.

"JUST LET ME THINK!" Tohma yelled as his patience dissipated completely.

"This is the worst..." Yoshino sighed as Masaru and Tohma continued their childish bickering. She turned to Miki and Megumi. "Doesn't DATS have a branch in North America that can deal with this?" she asked them.

"The operations of the North American branch are solely centered in America and don't extend up into Canada, unfortunately," a voice from the back of the room replied. Yoshino and Lalamon turned towards the owner of the voice. "I'm afraid the six of you will have to go there and capture the Digimon yourselves."

"_Hai, taichou_," Yoshino saluted.

Meanwhile, Tohma and Masaru were still going at it. "You don't even know any English to communicate with them!" the blond accused his teammate.

"_Oi_! I know 'Sank you'!" Masaru insisted.

Agumon nodded his large head in agreement, "Right! _Aniki_ is smart and brave and…"

Tohma grabbed his hair in frustration and took several deep breaths. "It's not _'Sank you,'_ 'it's Thank You!' Admit it, Masaru; without any English you won't even be able to get into the school!"

"Then you'll come with me!"

It took a moment before Tohma's mind registered what Masaru had just said. "What?" the blond looked up at his grinning teammate. "Are you saying that...?" he continued slowly.

Masaru nodded. "The two of us can pose as exchange students and get into the school with no problem. You're a sweet-talker, Tohma. While you distract the teachers and people, Agumon and I can look for the Digimon and beat them up before they'll even know what hit them!"

"No!" Tohma shouted as he quickly realized the reality of Masaru's plan. "It's too dangerous for you to be snooping by yourself, and with Agumon too! What if someone catches you? What are you going to do then?"

"I'll knock them out!" Masaru replied, swinging his fist.

"Is he serious?!" Miki muttered.

"Probably," Megumi smiled.

"This is the worst..." was all Yoshino could say.

"Masaru..." Tohma began quietly, "You really are a-!"

"That's enough, Tohma, Masaru!"

The thundering voice from the back of the room startled everyone else in the room into silence. Tohma, Masaru, Yoshino, and their Digimon partners quickly turned and stood to attention as their _taichou_, Satsuma Rentarou, stood to his full height of six foot two. With his broad frame and dark sunglasses, he was truly a horrifying figure to behold.

"Give me the names of the city and the school we are dealing with, as well as the age range of the students," Satsuma ordered his computer operators.

"_Hai!_ The school, Alexander Worthington Academy, is in the city of Vancouver on the west coast of Canada," Megumi quickly replied. "It's a prestigious private school of about 500 students ranging from ages 13 to 18."

"Hm." The _taichou_ turned to the younger members of DATS and their Digimon. "Daimon Masaru, Tohma H. Norstein, and Fujieda Yoshino: You and your Digimon will go to Canada, seek out the three Digimon hiding in and near the school, and capture them. You will head out early tomorrow. Arrive at headquarters tomorrow at 8:00 sharp. DATS will have prepared a private jet for you, along with the necessary documents. Is that clear?"

"_Hai_!"

* * *

_2008 January 31, Tokyo, Japan_

_Masaru's house_

"KA-SAN! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" Masaru screamed as he ran into the dining room, tripping over his bag near the doorway.

"Ah, but you looked like you were having a good dream, Masaru. I couldn't bring myself to ruin it," his mother, Sayuri, sweetly replied as she fried more eggs for breakfast. "I know how hard you've been working lately, fighting the Digimon and all..."

"Agumon, why didn't you wake me, you pig?!" Masaru, who was still on the floor and trying to put on his socks, accused his partner, who was now on his second dish of fried eggs.

"What, and have to share Sayuri's delicious fried eggs with you?" Agumon replied, spraying bits of the yellow food everywhere.

"Agu-_chan_, don't talk with your mouth full..." Chika, Masaru's little sister, sighed as she dodged the flying chunks of food.

"Sheesh!" Masaru grumbled as he finally finished putting on his socks. Standing up, he walked over to his seat at the dining table, but not before stopping to look at the picture frame behind Chika. "_Ohaiyo, otou-san_," he greeted the man in the picture. "I'm heading out to a new place today, but I'll be sure to make you proud just the same! Even in Karaka, everyone will know the name Daimon Masaru, the strongest-"

"Masaru, Agumon is eyeing your breakfast, and you're going to be late," Sayuri's voice interrupted Masaru's rant. "I'm sure your father will listen to you after you both come back," the woman added, her cheerful voice hiding her true feelings.

"Ah! I forgot! Stay away from my eggs, you pig, or else!"

* * *

_Meanwhile, at Yoshino's apartment_

Yoshino hummed to herself as she stuffed the last of her belongings into her suitcase and slammed it shut. "That should be it," she sighed as she stood up. "Right, Lalamon?"

"Yes, I've triple-checked and everything you need is either in the suitcase or in your travel bag," Lalamon's voice replied from inside the pink and white Digivice. "We're good to go."

Yoshino nodded as she stopped in front of the fireplace. There were two picture frames on it, but only one of the two pictures were facing frontward; the other one was facing the wall. The young woman picked up the frame whose picture she could see. "_Tou-san, ittekimasu_. But I'll definitely be back soon," Yoshino promised as she replaced the frame.

"Yoshino," Lalamon suddenly realized, "Did you call your mother to tell her where you're going?" Her human partner didn't answer.

"Let's go, Lalamon," Yoshino finally replied as she picked up her belongings, slamming the door to her apartment behind her.

* * *

_Primary Operating Room, DATS' HQ_

"Done," said Tohma as he unplugged his USB device from the computers.

"Tohma-_sama_, you're done already?!" Megumi practically squealed with delight.

"I've hacked into all the necessary systems and took care of the paperwork," the genius explained as he leaned back in his seat. "Masaru and I will have no problem posing as two exchange students from Japan while Yoshino is on a work permit."

"Master, is something bothering you?" Gaomon asked.

"I'm a bit annoyed; that's all, Gaomon," the blonde replied. "I won't be able to put my hypothesis to test until after this mission is over." He sighed as the doors to the room slid open.

"_Ohayou_!" an old man in spectacles greeted everyone as he entered the room.

"Yushima-_shochou_!" Miki exclaimed. "What a surprise to see you back here!"

"_Shochou_, is something the matter?" Tohma asked, standing up from his seat.

The commander of DATS gave a hearty laugh. "No, nothing is wrong, Tohma," he reassured him. "I just needed to talk to Satsuma about some...administrative matters." Satsuma got to his feet.

"What is it?" the younger man asked as Yushima moved towards him. The latter glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before addressing his colleague in a solemn tone:

"Satsuma, I have news from my agent in the Confidentiality Branch," the commander replied in a low voice. "The Chinese government has been in contact with Hashima and the others-"

"Sorry that we're late!" Yoshino apologized as she, Lalamon, Masaru and Agumon barged into the room.

"_Aniki_ overslept!" Agumon put the blame on his boss, who promptly punched him on the head. Meanwhile, Yushima had already left the room via a secret passageway.

"It doesn't matter," Satsuma said as he diverted his attention towards Masaru and the others. "As long as you're all here, we can begin. Masaru, Tohma, and Yoshino: are you ready?"

"_Hai!_" the teenagers replied.

* * *

**Glossary**:

_Digi-tama_: 'Digi-Egg'. The two terms will be used interchangeably in the story.

_Nani_: 'What'

_Aniki_: 'Older brother' (often used in family-like connotations such as gangs)

_Baka_: 'Idiot'

_Hai_: 'Yes' (Formal)

_Taichou_: 'Captain.' What the younger members of DATS call Satsuma Rentarou.

_Shochou_: 'Commander.' What the younger members of DATS call Yushima Hiroshi.

_Ka-san_: 'Mom'

_(O)tou-san:_ 'Dad'

_Ittekimasu: _'I'm leaving' (home, with the intention of returning)

_Ohayou_: 'Good morning' (informal)

* * *

A/N: Many OCs to be introduced in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 2: First Day - Introductions

_2008 February 1, Vancouver, Canada_

_Alexander Worthington Academy_

The school bell ringing was enough to drown out the noise of running water, metal trays hitting the ground, and an ambulance wailing past the school. However, not even an earthquake could possibly silence one particular classroom of chatty tenth-graders.

"Mr. Perry is so cruel for assigning us a paper right before our midterms!" complained Judy Taylor, a 16-year old teen. "Can't he tell a joke when he hears one?!"

"Yeah, we were only joking when we said that good old Mr. Daniels could beat him at running laps around the track!" replied Amy Howe, another 16-year old with her hair tied up in a ponytail. "Who knew Perry had such a sick way of getting revenge?!" She whined though her hazel eyes sparkled mischievously. "Don't you agree, Chris? …Chris?"

"Christina's too busy telling Allen how much she _loves_ him," explained Robert Pan, a boy yet to turn sixteen. Beside him, a pretty petite Asian girl looked up from her phone to glare at him.

"None of your business, _Bobby pin_," Christina shot back, using the nickname that she knew her friend absolutely loathed.

Robert's face immediately scrunched up as if he just consumed a litre of unsweetened lemonade. "Christina Liu! How could you taunt your boyfriend's favourite cousin like that?!" he gasped, grabbing at his heart. "I'm telling Allen!"

Christina rolled her eyes. "Go ahead, I'm sure Allen will listen to his only _annoying_ cousin." She sighed and continued to text away. Everyone burst out laughing as Robert's 'lemonade' face magically turned into a 'tomato' one as he registered an 'angry look' at the girl's reply.

"Fuck you, Robert; why didn't you take theatre when you had the chance?" laughed Robert's close friend, Bill Worthington. A descendant of the school's founder, Bill was easily one of the tallest people in the entire school at six feet five. However, the fact that he only weighed 145 pounds meant that he also looked like a telephone pole.

"Bill, no swearing in my class!" snapped Ms. Brewer, the middle-aged English teacher who was desperately trying to mark papers amidst the noise in the room. She sighed as she stood up from the painstaking task. "Everyone, please listen up!" she shouted. No reply. "I have some very exciting news for you all today!" she tried to no avail. Ms. Brewer sighed again. "It involves Vice-principal Scott..." she whispered.

The name of the most hated administrative member in the school, if not the entire school district, could always be counted on by teachers to shut students up. As the noise in the classroom slowly came down to levels of 'normal', a girl with two long black pigtails in the front corner of the room turned from the window where she had been staring absentmindedly out of for the last half an hour.

"Today, we will have two exchange students from Japan joining us!" Ms. Brewer announced to a quiet-enough class of twenty. "Please welcome them to Canada!" The door opened and Mr. Scott, the vice-principal for their grade level, sauntered in with two boys right behind him.

"Good morning, everyone," said Scott in a bright and cheerful voice, stunning everyone, the teacher included, into complete silence.

_Did the 'fire-eating devil' just smile?!_ Bill gulped. _Hell just froze over._

_Looks like the school just received a large private donation... _Amy immediately thought as she secretly texted underneath the desk. _That explains why he's in such a good mood today, right, Chris?_

"I said, good morning everyone," the vice-principal repeated with an edge in his otherwise cheerful voice.

"Good morning, Vice-principal Scott," the students all mumbled darkly in jolted unison.

Mr. Scott was satisfied enough. "I'd like you to meet Tohma H. Norstein and Masaru Daimon," he continued, beckoning at the boys next to him. "They only just transfer to Canada yesterday. Please give them a welcome fitting of our school. Show them why our students pride themselves on the virtues of hospitality and courage that founded the school, and remember that..."

Scott droned on, probably aware that no one was listening to him. Steven Victor, the highest-scoring student in his age group, quickly scanned over the two new students. He was surprised to see how different they looked from each other, considering they were both Japanese.

Masaru Daimon, with brown hair up in a ponytail and who looked like he could pick a fight with anyone anytime, anywhere, seemed Japanese enough. Tohma, on the other hand, looked like Steven himself with his blond hair, except Tohma's face reflected his Asian heritage.

_Norstein..._ Steven pondered. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"The records say that Tohma is Austrian on his father's side and Japanese on his mother's side," Mr. Scott's broke Steven out of his thoughts. There were mumbles and whispers from the other students.

"As Tohma here has told me," the vice-principal continued, "He has grasped enough of the English language from his European origins to communicate with the rest of you. However, his friend Masaru has not. Thus, Tohma and the school board have asked that they be seated together at all times. Is that alright with you, Ms Brewer?" the vice-principal asked the teacher. Brewer nodded, knowing full well that Scott would never take 'no' for an answer.

Judy found the courage to speak then. "Sorry to interrupt you, vice-principal, but we only have one empty desk left in this room, and that's behind Phoebe there." Everyone in the room turned towards the girl in the front corner of the room, much to her embarrassment as she casted her eyes downwards.

"Alright," Ms. Brewer said, taking charge. "Phoebe, if you will be so kind to move into that empty seat behind you so we can move your current seat next to Miss Fallin's desk and then we will have two seats. I'm sure Miss Fallin won't mind."

As the large 'Karaka' woman spoke, Masaru leaned closer to Tohma. "_Oi_, Tohma, do you sense anything here?" he whispered.

Tohma shook his head, "Not at the moment, but…" Tohma turned to his teammate. "Make sure you keep Agumon under control. We have to make sure that he and Gaomon, and our Digivices, are not seen by anyone, understood?" Masaru nodded, cooperating with his teammate for once.

"Ah, let me help you, miss!" Tohma exclaimed as he rushed over to the girl who was moving the desk by herself. As he hastily took it from her, his Digivice iC, with Gaomon inside, fell out of his pocket and onto the floor. It skidded several feet before stopping at the feet of the surprised Phoebe.

Everyone was staring at the blue and white object. Behind him, Tohma could hear Masaru gulping. There was dead silence in the room.

Before Tohma could say or do anything, someone held out his Digivice to him. Tohma looked up at the girl holding it. "This is yours, right? Nice I-pod you have here" she added, smiling at him.

"Oh, so it was an I-pod!" Judy blurted out as the rest of the class laughed.

Tohma's hand reached out to take back his possession. "Thank you," he said, relief washing over him.

"_Oi,_ Tohma," Masaru called out. "Sit down already! You're holding the class up!"

Tohma spun around to see that Masaru had already taken the larger desk of the two for himself, and that everyone else was staring at him. "I'm so sorry!" Tohma apologized quickly with a bow before he took his seat next to his teammate, who was smirking at him.

"There's one more thing that you two have to know," began Vice-principal Scott, "Tohma and Masaru: I-pods, cell phones, and any other electronics are not permitted during class, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Tohma replied and to Masaru, he whispered, "Don't use or look at your Digivice or cell-phone during class-time." Masaru just yawned.

Phoebe watched the vice-principal leave the classroom amidst another sea of mumbled goodbyes. Then she turned to look at the two new students, especially the one with the blond hair. She thought back to the guy's 'I-pod', and unbeknownst to everyone else, smiled to herself.

"Alright, that took longer than expected," Ms. Brewer declared before the class could erupt into chaos again. "Now, in preparation for your midterm, I expect everyone to complete a paper about themes and motifs from the books that you have read this term..."

Meanwhile, from elsewhere within the school, a metal-grey-coloured egg that had successfully camouflaged itself inside a locker, was beginning to crack…

* * *

"Hey Tohma, I'm Christina! What class do you and Masaru have next?" Christina asked the new blond student. Sure, she had Allen, but it didn't hurt to flirt with another cute guy, right?

Tohma looked at the pretty girl, but his mind was on another girl, the one from before. When their hands had briefly brushed against each other when he had reached out to take back his Digivice, Tohma could have sworn that he felt sadness radiating from her. Why did that girl...? Suddenly, he remembered where he was at the moment.

"Oh, we don't have any class for the next hour," Tohma answered. "Vice-principal Scott gave Masaru and me a free block just for today so we could go around the school and become familiar with it." At this, both Tohma and Christina were greeted with an uncomfortable silence from each other.

Judy was talking to her classmate just a few feet away. "Are you ready for the vocal test in choir today, Phoebe?!" The shy girl could only force a smile in reply.

"Not really, eh?" Judy concluded. "Well, with me as your partner, I'm sure you will do fine! See you later!" With a final wave, she disappeared into the crowds.

Unbeknownst to anyone including Masaru, Tohma had been spying on Phoebe ever since that incident. Something about her was bothering him.

"_Oi,_ Tohma, I REALLY have to go!" Masaru was jumping up and down as he tried to get Tohma's attention, but the _baka_ was in another world, staring out into a sea of people.

_Looks like that loud girl is familiar with Phoebe, _Tohma took a mental note of the other girl's face. _I have to prod around for her name. Who knows; it could come in useful when..._

"Fine, Tohma! I'll just go by myself!"

Without turning around, Tohma grabbed his teammate by the arm before he could run off. "Alright, Masaru, alright," he sighed. For the umpteenth time, the blond wondered to himself what the heck the _taichou_ and DATS hoped to gain when they decided to put this loudmouth on his team. Turning to the girl next to him, Tohma asked: "Excuse me, but this guy needs to go to the restroom. Could you show us the nearest restroom, miss?"

Before Christina could reply, Amy, who had been standing next to her all this time, butted in: "Of course, Tohma! Let me show you the way! Can I, Chris?" the girl asked her friend for permission.

Meanwhile, Christina was still a little upset that Tohma hadn't address her by her name, so she had no qualms about giving Amy the go-ahead. In her mind, Allen was still the best.

* * *

"Ah, that's much better!" Masaru sighed with relief as he stepped out of the stall as the toilet flushed behind him. Tohma huffed in annoyance from where he stood near the sinks.

"Hey _Aniki_, is it time to eat yet?"

"_Nani_? What are you doing out here, Agumon?!" Both Masaru and Tohma nearly fell over in shock upon realizing that the orange Digimon had realized by himself again and was currently crowding up a large portion of the restroom.

"Agumon, we told you to stay hidden until we said so! Now, get back in the Digivice!" Tohma ordered the hungry giant orange lizard.

"For once, I agree with him!" Masaru gasped from where he was pinned between the restroom's wall and Agumon. He lifted his free arm and aimed his Digivice iC at his partner. "Don't worry, Agumon; we will have a feast after this!"

After a flash of light, there was once again room for the teenagers to move around. Tohma sighed; this was the most difficult mission they had yet.

Tohma took out his own Digivice to talk to Gaomon. "Gaomon," he greeted his loyal partner's face on the screen at the front of the device, "are you alright?"

"Yes, Master!" Gaomon answered from the digital room in the device. "However, that incident from before is bothering me…"

"_Gomenasai_, Gaomon, I didn't mean to drop the Digivice on the floor..." Tohma tried to explain.

"No, master, it's not that. Master, did anyone else hold the Digivice today?"

"What are you talking about, Gaomon?" Tohma asked his partner. Masaru came over to see what was going on. "After I dropped the Digivice, a girl picked it up and gave it back to me. Why are you asking this, Gaomon?"

"Master, that other person who held the Digivice today; there is something suspicious about her. I felt something when she touched the Digivice: she has been in contact with a Digimon!"

* * *

_" ...The shadows are freely embracing my cheeks;_

_Unfamiliar wings guide me through the skies;_

_Beautiful dreams are taking me back to sinless peaks;_

_And time is running back to a reality without lies_

_So that in the end I return to that place_

_High above the clouds... "_

"How did I do, Phoebe?" Judy asked excitedly as soon as she finished, without even waiting for the pianist to finish playing the song.

"Very good," Phoebe replied sincerely. "Your voice is a perfect fit for this sad piece."

Judy's face broke out into a cheerful smile. "I believe you," she told the other girl gently. "Unlike Anna-I mean, the other singers, you're not jealous I was chosen to be the soloist, right?" she asked.

Phoebe shook her head. "That's because I'm only good at accompanying you all on the piano," she explained. "I don't know why I even chose choir as my arts elective," she confessed.

"Nonsense, I can hear you singing along with us over the sounds of the piano; you have a great voice!" Judy retorted as Phoebe blushed. "You just need to have a bit more confidence in yourself! After all, the voice is only as powerful as the person using it. Remember what Miss Haley told us on the first day of classes?" Judy asked her classmate. "She said, and I quote: 'A voice with real strength can touch every soul and remove any mask. Remember that?'"

Phoebe nodded. "I remember it," she admitted softly.

Judy grinned. "Come on! Let's keep practicing," she suggested. "And this time, _you_ sing while I play!"

* * *

"_Oi,_ Tohma, why are we listening to some girls sing?" Masaru asked his teammate.

The two of them were standing by the slightly opened doors of the school's auditorium. Peering into the spacious chamber, Tohma and Masaru could see the girl Tohma had under suspicion and a few other students singing. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary…yet.

"_Oi_, Tohma," Masaru repeated, "It's getting close to lunch. Let's get some food for Agumon and the others. Also, we should meet up with Yoshino to talk things over. We're not getting anything done just standing here, right, Tohma?" The blond could only sigh in defeat.

"_Aniki_, will there be Sayuri's fried eggs?!" Agumon's loud voice interrupted the solemn atmosphere.

"Be quiet, Agumon!" Both Tohma and Masaru shushed the creature who was fortunately still inside the Digivice. Suddenly, the buzzer on Tohma's phone went off.

"Tohma here," Tohma answered on the second ring, "What is it, Yoshino?" he asked.

"Bad news, _mina_!" Yoshino's frantic voice replied from the other end of the line. "There is an active Digimon's signal in the school right now!"

* * *

**Glossary**:

_Oi_: 'Hey'

_Gomenasai: _'Sorry'

_Mina_: 'Everyone'


	4. Chapter 3: The Two Discoveries

_A/N:_ In case people were wondering why there are two Chapter 1's, let me clarify: the first Chapter 1 (ie. the one with no description) was supposed to be known only as the Prologue (after I decided to reformat all the chapters) while _Chapter 1: Destination and Departure_ is the real first chapter. However, thanks to a bug on , I am not able to edit any chapter titles at the moment.

Sorry for the confusion that may have caused, and I hoped readers will continue to enjoy the story as the plot heats up, literally.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY LOCKER?!"

Christina, Amy, and their friend Roscoe Alkaev all jumped in surprise at the sudden outburst from their friend Henry Wang.

"Henry," Roscoe sighed. He was a year older than the other students in his grade level and was therefore more mature than most of his friends. "You shouldn't scream in the hallways; we're already disobeying school's rules by sneaking out of class. Now, what's this about…HOLY SHIT!"

Henry's locker looked like someone had turned on a blowtorch, threw it inside, and shut the door. Everything was burnt pitch-black, although some patches on the interior walls were still sizzling red and orange. Everything else that had been inside was a pile of ashes on the pitch-black floor.

"What happened?!" Allen Du, Christina's boyfriend, asked as he, returning with his lunch, saw the mess that his friend had found himself in. "Henry, were you playing with that chemistry set again?"

"Shut up!" Henry snapped. The teenage boy was seething. "My paper for Perry was in there!" he cried. "It's worth 25% of my grade! And no, I wasn't messing around with the chemistry set again! I didn't even bring the thing to school today!" he added defensively.

"Don't you have a backup file of it somewhere?" Allen asked. "Like, on a USB cable or a laptop or-"

"HELLO?!" Henry interrupted. "Did you forget?! That stupid Anna dropped my pencil case and everything into the sink this morning in chemistry class and ruined my USB! And my laptop was caught in this...this...catastrophe!" he practically screamed as the bell rang for lunch. "ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO HELP ME OR WHAT?!"

"Henry, calm down!" Roscoe whispered loudly as he walked over to his friend's locker and slammed the door shut, just as students began streaming into the hallways. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"But what will we do about this locker?" Christina spoke up as they all huddled together to discuss their next move. "I mean, we can't leave it like this; we will have to report Henry's locker to the office."

Amy nodded in agreement. "We could convince them to give Henry an extension on his paper."

"But Scott and the others will just assume Henry blew up his locker on purpose because he didn't finish his paper in time," Allen pointed out.

"Yeah, it's not the first time you blew something up," Christina agreed.

"That was an accident!" Henry insisted, glaring at Roscoe. "It wasn't my fault that Roscoe decided to phone me right at the EXACT moment that I was demonstrating my new invention for the first time in chemistry class!"

"You mean your failed attempt to squeeze orange juice and eggs out of a white towel in 20 seconds or less?" Amy remembered, rolling her eyes at the memory. "The chemistry lab still reeks of rotten oranges and eggs."

"HELLO?! Can we stop bringing up my what-could-have-been moment and focus on my oh-crap moment right now, _please_?!" Henry asked.

"Fine," Roscoe sighed. "Report the incident to the office."

"No, I won't report."

Roscoe closed his mouth as he and the others stared at Henry. "Excuse me?" Roscoe asked.

"I said, I'm not going to report this," Henry repeated in a low voice. "I don't trust anyone in this school to capture the culprit. Instead, I'm going to come back here tonight and catch the person who did this myself. They say that the culprit always return to the scene of the crime. I will just wait here until the janitor locks up for the night, and then I will break into the school and catch the criminal! I bet you a hundred bucks that Anna is somehow behind this!" Henry insisted, raising his voice. "She's probably still upset that my grandfather-"

"No, Henry!" Christina interrupted, "It's too dangerous!"

"Chris's right! You'll get into big trouble for something as trivial as this!" Roscoe agreed.

"Roscoe, you did this dozens of times last year alone!" Henry reminded him. "And just because Scott confiscated your pot!"

"That was different..." Roscoe replied quietly as he stared at the floor.

Allen and Christina looked at each other as Amy gulped. "Henry, don't do this," Christina stepped forward. "You're a smart guy, and Perry's not _that_ horrible. You could probably squeeze out an 80% average on History if you put your mind-"

"Anna's behind this, I tell you!" Henry wasn't even paying attention to Christina; he was too busy drawing a makeshift map of the school on the back of his Algebra notebook. "She hates my guts, so she probably hired someone to destroy my stuff without getting her hands dirty! Heck, even the outside of the locker was left untouched; the criminal was obviously targeting me and not school property! Well, she's not getting away with this! I make sure that..."

Christina's face darkened as Henry continued talking to himself. Allen grimaced. _This isn't good_...he realized.

"Henry, you fool!" Christina screamed angrily. "If you are the target, then-!"

Before Christina could finish her sentence, a shower of cheese, cucumbers, eggs, and a whole bunch of something else came down on Henry, completely drenching him in a yellow, red, and green mess.

"So...Sorry!" Allen and the others looked up and saw Phoebe, standing on the stairway and holding on to what was left of her lunch, staring down at them in horror. "But Christina...she...sorry!" she stammered. Both Allen and Roscoe facepalmed as Christina blushed and Amy tried not to laugh at Henry's new 'look'.

Henry was the first to speak up. "Phoebe!" the teen shot his peer a wide grin, shocking her and all his friends. "Why don't you help me clean up then if that will make you feel better? That's great! Come on, let's go! See you guys around! Bye-bye!" Henry said everything in one breath, without giving either Phoebe or anyone else a chance to speak.

"What is that guy thinking?" Christina muttered as she and the others watched as Henry dragged a bewildered Phoebe away with him. As they disappeared into the crowd, Christina heard her best friend sigh.

"Well, I'm not sure about you guys but I'm staying afterschool today as well," Amy announced. "Someone needs to keep an eye on Henry so he doesn't do anything stupid, right, Chris?" she asked.

"Yes," Christina replied almost immediately. "I'll go with you as well."

Allen was surprised at Christina's quick reply. After all, he of all people knew Christina always preferred to play it safe. "In that case, I'm going as well," Allen smiled as he hugged his girlfriend. "After all, I have to keep my babe safe from harm, right?" he teased her.

Christina laughed and pushed him away playfully. "Allen, you wonderful jerk!" she teased back.

"As the oldest, I can't let you three just do whatever you want," Roscoe sighed. "If I can't stop you guys, at least I can keep an eye on you. I'm staying as well."

"Me too!" another voice chimed in.

"Robert, what are you doing here?!" Allen yelped when he saw that his friend had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Robert grinned. "I saw Henry dragging Phoebe through the hallways so I came to see what was going on," he explained to his bewildered friends. "Hey, I don't know where you guys are going but if all of you are in, I'm definitely tagging along! After all, the more the merrier! Don't give me that face, Roscoe. So, it's staying around afterschool until dark, right? Okay! Bye guys!" Robert ended his little talk as he turned around and walked away, as if the conversation they just had was nothing out of the ordinary.

Amy shook her head. "What has Henry gotten us into this time?" she muttered as Mr. Perry happened to walk by.

* * *

Masaru and Tohma emerged from the stairwell just as Amy and the others raced off to avoid further questioning by their history teacher. Masaru was so busy looking into the other students' lunches that he nearly crashed into Tohma who had suddenly stopped walking in front of him.

"_Oi,_ Tohma!" he shouted. "Why did you stop?! Aren't we looking for-?" Masaru was silenced as Tohma raised a hand.

"Be quiet, Masaru," Tohma hissed as he scanned his surroundings. He glanced down at the Digivice in his hand; the Digimon's readings from the data Yoshino sent were strongest in this area.

Tohma turned to his impatient teammate. "Masaru, let's come back here tonight with Yoshino. My calculations tell me that a Digimon was here," Tohma explained.

"Alright!" Masaru whistled, perhaps a bit too loudly as people turned to stare at him. It took all of Tohma's strength to grab Masaru and to drag him back down the stairs.

"_Baka_! Don't draw so much attention to ourselves!" Tohma angrily scolded his teammate, who merely rolled his eyes.

"Lighten up, _Tonma_!" Masaru snickered.

"What did you say, _baka_?!"

* * *

"Hey Phoebe, you and Henry were together during lunch today, right?" Amy asked .

As a favour for Christina, Amy was determined to talk Henry out of his 'suicidal plan' (as Allen had called it) of breaking into the school, and she was willing to use Phoebe if necessary. After all, Henry's sense of pride was enormous, so he would probably feel remorse for bringing an innocent bystander into his mess, right?

"Well?" Amy leaned closer to Phoebe, who was now stammering in defence. "Where were you two hiding out?" she persisted.

_I'm sorry Phoebe_, Amy apologized mentally when she saw the girl's upset face, _but I have to do this...for my friends._

"Are you serious, Amy?!" Amy's friend Maria squealed. "Are Phoebe and Henry an item now?!" Her seatmate, Lucy Tran, choked on her lunch. At that moment, Mr Daniels, their geography teacher, walked in with Tohma and Masaru. They were greeted by loud gasps, much to their surprises.

Lucy saw the tears that Phoebe was trying to hold back and felt sorry for her. "Hey guys," she said, "That's none of our businesses. Leave her alone," she said in a stern voice.

"I strongly agree." Lucy, Phoebe, Amy and the other students in the class turned to the blond exchange student from Japan, who was looking at Phoebe.

Tohma stared at the girl for another moment longer, and then turned towards the teacher. "Sir, I'm sorry for holding up the class. I won't bother you anymore," he promised with a bow. Beckoning to a dazed Masaru who had absolutely no idea what was going on, Tohma made his way to an empty seat at the back of the classroom.

Mr Daniels cleared his throat and quickly scanned the class. Phoebe still looked like she was on the verge of crying, Amy seemed upset about something, and the rest of his students were whispering amongst themselves and trying to catch glimpses at Phoebe. The teacher sighed; it was going to be a long hour.

"Alright, everyone," Mr. Daniels finally said. "It's time to hand in your papers."

Meanwhile, in the basement, an unidentified shadow was consuming the fire from the boiler…

* * *

Henry was pissed: his classmates had somehow got the crazy idea that he and Phoebe were an item, and they were now annoying him about it to no end. Henry understood that Christina and the others were trying to stop him from carrying out his revenge, but he didn't care.

_It doesn't matter,_ he thought. _If they won't help me, I'll do it myself, just like-_

Henry's thoughts were interrupted as he turned to the front of the room, where he saw two guys he had never seen before.

"Who-?" Henry began, but Maria, sitting behind him, interrupted and explained everything.

As they were being introduced for the third or fourth time today, Masaru leaned towards Tohma once again. "Is there a reason why we always end up in the same class with that girl?" he whispered, casting his eyes over to Phoebe at the other side of the room. Tohma sighed.

"Gaomon said she has been in contact with a Digimon," Tohma whispered back. "His instincts are usually very good, so I trust him. We have to get closer to this girl and find out what she is hiding from us… and the world. Also, there is the question about that hallway upstairs from here…"

"You always give such long answers, Tohma," Masaru huffed as he leaned back on his elbows, glancing at the opened door leading to the hallway.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure swept past the room. Masaru's eyes opened wide but when he blinked, nothing was there.

"_Nani_?" Tohma asked, noticing how quiet Masaru had become. "Is something the matter?"

"Ah…it's nothing," Masaru answered his teammate and turned his attention back towards the class. As they were being assigned to their seats, he stole another look at the hallway. Nothing.

_I probably imagined it, _Masaru dismissed the thought uneasily.

* * *

Lucy sighed as she took a drink from her bottle. Physical Education was her least favourite class, but at least she could now take a break to watch the other half of her class played.

Out on the playing field, all Bill could think about was how the ball was too small for him and kept escaping though his long legs. He would have preferred playing basketball every day of the week if possible. Howeve, it was the school's policy was that every student had to participate in at least three random sports for a month every year. Curse his luck that he ended up with soccer as one of them. If he tripped and fell on his face just like in figure skating class last week...

"ARGHHH!" The thought of embarrassing himself in front of everyone again caused Bill to kick at the ball with all his strength.

Lucy, Bill, and the rest of their class watched in amazement as the soccer ball went spinning into the air, flew across the field, over the fence, bounced over some residential rooftops, and landed somewhere in the park behind the school.

"Oops…my bad," Bill finally broke the shocked silence. "I'll go-" Bill stopped himself when he saw that Lucy was already at the edge of the field.

"I'll get it!" the girl yelled before running off. "You guys keep playing with the spare!"

* * *

"Well, just my luck," Lucy muttered as she picked up what was left of the black and white ball. It had exploded after crash-landing into a pile of pinecones on the ground. "Well, the school's rich anyway; another custom-made soccer ball won't hurt Scott's wallet...probably." Lucy allowed herself to chuckle at the thought of making the hated vice-principal suffer. "As for me, I can finally...eh? What's this?" Lucy raised an eyebrow as she took a closer look at the pile of pinecones: where the ball had been only seconds ago, a huge odd-colour egg was partly buried in the ground.

Lucy knelt down, quickly unburying the rest of her discovery. "What a strange colour…" she whispered to herself as she examined the strange egg object all over. "I wonder what kind of creature would lay an egg this huge..." She scanned her surroundings, but there was no sight of the mother or whoever had dropped the egg.

Suddenly, the egg vibrated slightly in Lucy's arms. "It's alive!" she gasped. Half a dozen different scenarios played out in her head. Should she bring the egg back with her to school? What would the teachers think? Should she call the police instead? What if it was really a bomb waiting to explode? Did she have time to run back home and drop the egg off? What if it was an alien egg waiting to hatch? Was it edible?

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was in reality only a few minutes, Lucy sighed, put the egg back where she had found it, and started reburying it.

* * *

"Yoshino, wake up! There's trouble!" Lalamon shook her partner awake.

"Lalamon, what's going on?!" Yoshino quickly jumped to her feet as the alarm went off. The two of them were inside a van parked across from the school.

Yoshino turned on the computers that Tohma had already installed in the van. As the screen flashed on, both Yoshino and Lalamon gasped in surprise.

"There's another Digimon's signal around here!" Yoshino exclaimed. "It's really small…so I doubt anyone would have notice it already, but…" Yoshino glanced at her watch just as it changed, "Three o' four. Lalamon, Tohma and Masaru will be finished with school in about ten minutes. Let's wait for them."

"_Hai_!" Lalamon replied.

Yoshino sighed and tried to pinpoint the creature's exact location with the computer, but it was no good. The signal was just too small. "All I can tell is that this one is not coming from the school itself this time!" Yoshino huffed, but before she could continue, Lalamon cut in.

"This is really the worse," Lalamon sang.

"That's MY line, Lalamon!" Yoshino barked back.

Suddenly, the alarm stopped ringing.

"Eh? What's going on?" Yoshino asked no one in particular as she turned back to the Digimon's signal. However, it disappeared right before her eyes.

"The Digimon… it's gone." Lalamon said quietly as Yoshino typed in a few more commands. After a few more tries, the young woman finally gave up.

"This is the worst..."

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Tonma_: 'Idiot' A rarely used derogatory term used by Masaru to refer to Tohma. The term is used in Episodes 3 and 4 of the anime.


	5. Chapter 4: Mission Begins - Breaking In

"_Nani_? The signal disappeared just like that?!" Masaru and Tohma blurted out when they heard Yoshino's explanation. Yoshino nodded as she stared at the floor with guilt.

Masaru growled. "A whole day inside that school and we still haven't found any sign of a Digimon!" He turned to Tohma. "Are you sure DATS gave us the right information?!"

"_Aniki_, don't be so angry!" Agumon cried from inside Masaru's Digivice. "If there is a Digimon inside, I'll be sure to sniff him out!"

"Masaru," Tohma replied at last. "And Yoshino too, listen well: Tonight, after the school is empty, I will use the computers installed in this van to temporally shut down the building's security system. We will then proceed to break into the school. Then we will determine once and for all whether or not there is a Digimon. If there is-"

"...then Agumon and I will teach that coward a lesson!" Masaru finished. "Sounds like a plan!"

Tohma nodded. "We have to find the Digimon in the school tonight before it meets up with the other Digimon that Yoshino and Lalamon saw. Otherwise, things will become even more problematic," he explained.

Yoshino stood up from her seat. "I agree, Tohma," she smiled.

"Yes, Master!" Gaomon replied obediently.

"Good, but can I have some food now?!" Agumon begged.

* * *

"Hey guys, won't your parents cause a commotion when they find out you're staying out so late?" Henry asked his friends. The six of them were crouching behind the bushes encasing the field. From their position, they could see the nearly deserted school's parking lot, save for the janitor's pick-up truck.

"Nope," Allen replied, "I phoned my dad at lunch and told her that Christina and I were going shopping at The Groove for Amy's birthday present and won't be back until at least ten."

"But it's nowhere near my bi-" Amy began, but Christina cut her off.

"But Allen's father doesn't know that, right?" Christina told her with a small smile.

"Yeah, whatever; just don't get in my way," Henry scoffed in reply and turned away from them. Suddenly, someone poked him from behind. "What?!" Henry demanded loudly as he glared at Robert.

"Henry, tell the truth: Do you like Phoebe?" Robert asked innocently.

Henry rolled his eyes. "For the last time," he said slowly and in a clear voice, "No!"

"But Henry…" Robert persisted.

"Quiet, guys," Roscoe interrupted him, "There's the janitor."

The six students all watched in silence as Mr. Mead, the school's janitor, locked the back doors of the school. They watched him get into his vehicle and drive off. As the tail lights disappeared up the street, everyone turned to Henry, who was still lying low on his stomach and staring at the school. Eventually, the raven-haired boy noticed how quiet it had become, and turned to see his friends staring at him.

"What?" Henry blurted out. "Why are you guys all staring at me?"

Roscoe sighed. "It was your idea to break into the school, Henry," He reminded his friend. "I hope you have a plan in mind for how to do so exactly. Otherwise, you better forget this crazy idea of yours and just give up on those 25%-"

"No way!" Henry interrupted angrily. "I'll get my revenge no matter what! That's the way of the Wang! Otherwise, how would I ever-?!"

"Everyone duck!" Amy suddenly whispered. Henry ducked just in time as the janitor's pick-up truck came rushing back into the parking lot.

Roscoe facepalmed as Henry and Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close..." the oldest teen muttered.

* * *

"Lalamon reporting from atop the school: Priority C has left the school a second time and this time, it doesn't seem that he will be returning," Lalamon's voice sang over the intercom in the van.

"Alright," Tohma replied from where he was hunched over the computer typing away, "I'm almost done here as well," he said. "Yoshino, what did HQ say?"

"The _taichou_ approved," she revealed. "We can start whenever we're ready." Yoshino gave Tohma a thumbs-up.

* * *

"We'll start at the back of the school, and see which doors and windows on the ground floor could be opened without breaking them. If not, we'll move to the front of the school and use the big trees there to get onto the second floor," Henry told his friends as they all emerged from the bushes. "No matter what, I'm going to get the culprit with my own hands and make him pay!" he vowed.

Christina shook her head as Henry ran off. "You haven't changed at all," she muttered so quietly that even Allen didn't hear her. "Just like that time..."

* * *

"Agumon and Gaomon, both of you should return to your Digivices," Tohma told the two Digimon members of DATS as they all stood outside one of the building's front entrances. "We should keep our numbers small. Lalamon, you come with us in case we might need your help in high areas."

"Yes, Master!" Gaomon replied before disappearing.

"I don't want to go back into that small room!" Agumon complained.

"Yeah, I don't see why-" Masaru began.

"JUST DO IT!" Tohma shouted.

As Agumon finally disappeared into Masaru's Digivice, Yoshino pulled Tohma aside.

"Tohma!" Yoshino gasped, "Did that girl holding the stuffed toy over there see Agumon?" she asked, pointing a finger at the flagpole in front of the school.

Tohma's eyes followed the path of his teammate's finger. At first he saw nothing, but as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he could make out a shadow. "That is…" Tohma said quietly, narrowing his eyes. His vision became clearer, and the shadow became a silhouette… but something seemed odd.

"That's not a toy!" Tohma abruptly yelled. Everyone jumped in surprise at the sudden outburst, including the mysterious figure in the distance, which swiftly turned on his or her heels and ran.

"Wait!" Tohma shouted as he ran after the escaping spy.

"Tohma!" Yoshino called after her teammate anxiously.

"You two! Continue with the plan as normal! I'll be back!" Tohma shouted back before disappearing into the night.

_You won't get away!_ Tohma vowed as he picked up his pace. Thanks to his longer legs and his intensive training, the blond was able to quickly catch up to his target only a few blocks away from the school.

"Don't hurt her!" Tohma took a step backward in surprise as the object in the figure's hands jumped in front of him. At that moment, the crescent moon broke through the clouds overhead, shining a slim ray of moonlight on the figure's face…

Tohma was shocked, but he knew in both his mind and heart that he should not have been.

"You are…" he said softly, and then he saw who...or what, the other object in front of him really was.

* * *

"What was that noise?" Amy whispered loudly to Robert next to her as the two of them were checking for any broken window latches.

"It's probably just some of Roscoe and Andy's old friends who were still hanging around here. Anyway, it sounds like they're gone now," Robert muttered as he unsuccessfully tried to use a safety pin to unlock the back door of the school. "Damn, it looked much easier in the movies..."

Amy still felt uneasy. "Should we tell the others?" she quietly asked.

"Nah, keep working or we will never break in at this rate!"

* * *

"Sheesh," Masaru grumbled. "That idiot runs off and now we're the ones risking our necks by breaking into the school! What kind of teammate is he?!"

"I'm sure Tohma has his reasons," Yoshino defended as she picked at the lock. "Remember, Masaru, we have to stay focused on our mission! There!" The young woman triumphantly cried as a click was heard. A moment later, the double doors slowly creaked open.

"Lead the way, Masaru," Yoshino ordered as the two of them and Lalamon stepped into the dark school. Masaru shut the door after them but left a thin crack open for Tohma.

"Yeah," he answered with a grin. "Follow me!"

When they reached the first set of doors on the second floor of the building, Masaru was dismayed to find it locked. "Damn it!" he swore and, despite Yoshino's protests, broke open the door with his body as a battering ram. As the door swung open, Masaru lost his balance and fell, tripping over a garbage can.

Both Yoshino and Lalamon covered their ears as the metallic material hit the hard cold tiled floor, causing the entire chamber to echo with shrilling rings. "Masaru, be careful!" Yoshino scolded her teammate, "Do you want us to get caught?!" she asked angrily.

"_Gomen, gomen_!" Masaru apologized hastily, laughing nervously.

However, he did the same thing when they came to the second pair of doors leading to the third floor. Fortunately, there were no garbage cans for him to trip over this time.

"So, this is the place," Yoshino said as she flashed her flashlight around the hallway. She looked at her Digivice. "Yup, there was definitely a Digimon around here today," she concluded.

"Alright!" Masaru grinned. "Now, all we need is to cause a commotion and lure-"

"_Matte_!" Yoshino interrupted her hot-headed teammate. "The signal points towards this row of lockers. Perhaps one of them…" Yoshino's voice faded out as she scanned the row of metal boxes before her.

* * *

"We're not having much luck, Henry," Allen gasped as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Seriously, man, you should just give up on your revenge!" He sighed as he flopped down on the grass. "How about we go for some late-night gelato? My treat!"

"No way!" Henry immediately shot down the appeal of free ice cream. "I'm not giving up until I catch the criminal!"

"Henry, you should use some of that energy in asking Phoebe out on a date," Amy teased, joining Allen on the grass.

"Amy…" Henry began in a dangerous voice, "For the last time, I-!"

"Guys! Come quickly!" Robert interrupted from the front of the school. "It looks like someone broke into the school already!"

As Henry quickly ran over, Allen and Amy could only stare at each other.

"I don't believe it!" Allen finally broke the silence, "The criminal must really be an idiot if he decided to return to the crime scene so soon!" Amy nodded in agreement, but she looked nervous.

"Well, in any case we can't let them face the criminal alone, right?" she finally replied. "What if he has a weapon and-"

"I can't let anything happen to Chris!" Allen realized in horror as he quickly got to his feet. "Let's go!"

* * *

Lucy gasped as she pulled at the egg she had re-hid earlier with all her strength. Was it her imagination, or did it feel heavier than before?

"Ooof!" the teen grunted as she fell on her behind, while still holding the egg. She sighed. "If you're a bomb, I'm surprised you haven't exploded yet," she told the egg. "Now, what am I going to do with you?" The egg vibrated again.

Then it began to glow.


	6. Chapter 5: Revelations

"You think the signal is coming from this locker, Yoshino?" Masaru asked his teammate as she picked at the lock.

"Yes," Yoshino replied, "I'm sure of it." Then there was silence except for the scratching sounds coming from the lock as Yoshino attempted to break the code and-

"Yoshino!" Lalamon exclaimed. "Someone's coming! We-"

"It's probably Tohma," Masaru, startled from the sudden noise, glared at the pink and green Digimon. "Seriously, Lalamon, don't scare us like that!" Masaru scolded his teammate's partner.

"_Demo_…" Lalamon said hesitantly, casting a nervous look at the stairway.

"Yes! I've finally got it!" Yoshino declared triumphantly as the lock fell to the floor with a soft tinkering sound. As the door swung open, Masaru, Yoshino, and Lalamon all gazed inside the locker and gasped.

"It looks like…" Lalamon began but never finished.

"What the hell happened here…?" Masaru, with eyes wide in surprise, stuttered.

"This is the worst!" Yoshino added, just as a bright beam of light blinded them from behind.

* * *

As the light from Roscoe's flashlight fell on the intruders, the wielder and his friends all gasped in surprise at the 'culprits' kneeling before them.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Henry swore as he recognized the exchange student from Japan. "What are YOU doing here?! And just what are you doing, breaking into my locker?! Do you know who I am? How did you know about it anyway? You and the other guy just arrived today?! Or did you?" His voice rose with anger and confusion at every word.

The exchange student jumped up and pointed at him, saying something in Japanese. Even though he could not understand a word coming out of the other guy's mouth, Henry could tell by the tone of his voice and his facial expressions that the Japanese was as surprised and angry as he was.

"Holy crap!" Roscoe swore, losing his perfectly calm composure once more. "What in blue blazes is THAT?!" he gasped, pointing.

Henry, Christina and all their other friends turned to see what their older friend was pointing at, only to receive the biggest surprise and fright of their lives. Hanging over the exchange student's head was a gigantic pink and green acorn with eyes and arms and actually making sounds!

"Stop." A young woman with short dark pink hair stepped in front of the creature. She was aiming some sort of device at them. Christina was surprised to see the determination in the girl's eyes.

"Please…" the girl continued, and Christina realized that like her companion, she didn't have a strong grasp of the English language as well.

"What do you mean? Who are you?" Christina asked the woman but like her friends, she was too busy looking at the strange creature. "And what is THAT?"

"Stop," the girl repeated angrily, catching Christina and the others off guard. "Please forget everything-"

"_Matte_, Yoshino!" a voice from behind Allen interrupted the stranger. Everyone, including the exchange student and his friend, turned towards the voice. Before them stood Tohma H. Norstein and… Phoebe Yang, who was holding a strange white puppy in her arms.

* * *

_Earlier tonight, a few blocks away from the school_

"So Gaomon was right," Tohma realized as he and the girl from earlier, Phoebe, stared at each other. "How long?" he asked the girl, but gets no reply. Undeterred, the blond turned to look at the furry white creature on the ground between them. "Care to explain, Plotmon?"

"Ruo Lan and I have been together for three years already!" The puppy Digimon barked at him. "Don't you dare try to separate us, or I'll make you regret it!" Its green eyes shone with anger.

"Ruo Lan?" the blond repeated.

"It's my Chinese name," Phoebe finally spoke, staring at the cement.

"Right, I have always called her that, ever since we were first introduced to each other," Plotmon insisted.

"Introduced? By whom?" Tohma asked, curious now. Was it possible that this girl and Plotmon were...?

Plotmon narrowed its eyes at him. "And why should we tell you?" it replied.

Tohma sighed as he took out his DATS' membership card and showed it to the skeptical Digimon. "Tohma H. Norstein: I'm a member of the Digital Accident Tactics Squad, or DATS, which is responsible for monitoring Digimon like you who appear in our world," he explained. "If my hunches are correct, then you, Plotmon, are also..." He saw Plotmon's frown slowly turned up into a smirk.

"Your suspicions are correct, Mr. Norstein," Plotmon spoke, glancing at its partner. "Yes, I was raised by DATS, and it was there that Ruo Lan and I were first introduced to each other by a mutual friend. Although I harbour no ill feelings to the organization that protected me all these years, my allegiance now lies with my partner here."

Tohma narrowed his eyes at the two of them, thinking quickly. "Plotmon, just this once, won't you help DATS captured the wild Digimon that is inside your partner's school? DATS will surely-"

"That depends on Ruo Lan then, doesn't it?" Plotmon interrupted as Tohma looked up at the girl who had barely said anything.

Phoebe lifted her head so that her brown eyes were levelled with Tohma's. "About DATS..." the girl quietly asked. "Are you from the Japanese branch or the European one?"

Puzzled, Tohma raised an eyebrow but decided to answer it. Compared to her Digimon, she was really straightforward. "Officially, I'm part of the core team at DATS HQ in Japan, but I did spend a few months over at the European branch last spring and summer, lending my expertise to the researchers stationed there," he explained.

"Do you...do you know Professor Klein?" she asked.

"Professor Klein? You mean Eric Klein, the lead researcher of DATS' European branch?" Tohma replied. "Of course, he was my supervisor during my stay in Europe. How do you know him anyway? Don't tell me that... he was the one who introduced you to Plotmon!"

Plotmon laughed at the look on his face. _So, that's how it was..._ Tohma realized.

* * *

"What are you saying, Tohma?!" Masaru exclaimed. "And that dog; is it a Digimon too?!" Masaru, along with Yoshino, Lalamon, Henry, and everyone else, turned to look at the smirking white puppy in Phoebe's arms. "It's laughing at me!" Masaru exclaimed, offended.

Tohma sighed; he had been doing that a lot lately. "This puppy, Masaru, is Plotmon, a Child-level Vaccine Digimon. Don't worry; she is on our side. Also, don't touch those kids' memories, Yoshino," he ordered.

"Tohma!" Yoshino insisted, "It's DATS' policy that-!"

"If you will just let me explain..." Tohma cut in, trying to suppress another sigh. "But first, I have to tell these people something as well," he finished, beckoning at Christina and the others with her. The blond gave his teammates a knowing look, but the effect was lost on Masaru.

"What the hell, Tohma!" the brunette yelled. "Don't boss us around without..." Masaru's voice faded as Yoshino grabbed his arm. She shook his head at him, causing Masaru to just glare at Tohma before she and Lalamon dragged him around the corner and disappeared out of sight.

Tohma could now finally address the Canadian students in peace. "Everyone," he began as Henry, Christina, Robert, Amy, Allen, and Roscoe all turned to face him. "I have something very important to reveal to you all. What I am about to reveal is extremely important but confidential information," he said, reciting word for word the first paragraph from chapter six of DATS' official rulebook. "Thus, can you all swear in return for all your memories that you will not speak of any of this to anyone, including your families and other friends?" he asked, scanning the six teenagers that were standing in front of him carefully.

"What do you mean, in return for our memories?" one of the teenagers spoke first. There was no fear in his voice; only curiosity. Tohma was startled as he saw a bit of Masaru in him.

"What is your name?" the blond asked.

The other guy didn't even miss a beat. "Henry Wang," he replied in an aristocratic tone of voice that reminded Tohma of himself.

Now the blond was really feeling uneasy. "Well, Henry," he decided to continue anyway, hoping the feeling in his gut would just go away. He took out the memory-erasing device and showed it to the others. "This is the Memory-Erasing Device that my teammate Yoshino was about to use on you," he explained. "One click of this button and the light that will shine in your faces will erase all of the memories that you made in the past 24 hours." Everyone gasped.

"Wait, that girl was your teammate? Teammate as in what?" the girl who had helped he and Masaru find the washroom earlier spoke up first.

"Daimon Masaru, Fujieda Yoshino, and I are the core fighting team of the Digital Accident Tactics Squad, otherwise known as DATS," Tohma explained as he showed his DATS membership card to the onlookers, who were quiet once again. "DATS is a secret government organization headquartered in Japan but have branches in Europe and the United States as well. Our mission is to track down mysterious digital beings that come into our world from the Internet, either by accident or on purpose for their own motives."

At this, Tohma took a deep breath before he continued:

"Known as Digimon within DATS, these otherwise harmless creatures made of data has somehow managed to take on a material form when they realize in our world. The researchers at DATS are still trying to find out why and how the Digimon are able to do so. All we know right now that as creatures made entirely from computer data, the Digimon cannot be destroyed using normal weapons. From DATS' experiments so far, all Digimon seems to possess a mysterious nucleus that not only protects them from such attacks, but also gift them with supernatural powers. That is why DATS' primary objective is to capture the Digimon that have appeared in our world and to return them to where they came from before they can do any damage to humanity,"

Tohma paused here to beckon at Plotmon.

"This puppy here is actually a Digimon," Tohma revealed to Henry and the others. "Her name is Plotmon. All Digimon's names end in -mon and they are classified into species, not by individuals. Perhaps the most important thing about Digimon is that they can evolve and become stronger, just like humans. Just as children grow into adulthood and baby cubs become lions, Digimon change shapes and forms throughout their lives, with their supernatural powers increasing in both strength and speed as well."

He stared at the students in front of him. Their eyes were nearly as large as Agumon when he smelled Masaru's mother's fried eggs a block away. _What am I getting myself into?_ Tohma wondered.

Christina was the first to speak again. "Tohma, why are you telling us this?" she asked. "Wouldn't it be easier for you to just erase our memories?" The blond just stared at her. This pretty girl wasn't so dumb after all.

Tohma hesitated, shooting a glance at Phoebe and Plotmon. But before he could say anything, Plotmon's ears suddenly shot up in alert.

"Something's watching us," she growled. Tohma, Phoebe, and everyone else turned to see the white puppy glaring at Henry's locker. Everyone looked at the object that started it all with caution...

"Come out, whoever you are!" Henry suddenly barked, stepping towards his ruined locker. Tohma facepalmed: this guy was really another Masaru in the making! "I have a bone to pick with you, and a lot of questions that you better answer! Why-?!"

"Henry!" Roscoe gasped as a white light flew out of Henry's locker and hit him straight in the chest. Roscoe practically flew over to catch his friend before he hit the floor.

Tohma aimed his Digivice at an empty space nearby, "Gaomon, Realize!" he shouted as the blue gem on the back of the device glowed. Blue data and light streamed out from it as the blue and white dog appeared.

"Yes, Master!" Gaomon replied as he took up a fighting stance in front of the locker. Masaru, Yoshino, and Lalamon quickly ran up to them.

"What's going on? What was that light? _Oi_, Tohma!" Masaru demanded as the blond knelt down beside the unconscious Henry.

"Henry, wake up! You can't die yet!" Christina cried as Allen tried to comfort her. Both Phoebe and Robert's faces paled as Roscoe clenched his fists angrily. Amy burst into tears.

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Demo_: 'But' (Informal)


	7. Chapter 6: Voices - Deceit

_A/N: _Looks like FFN fixed the bug in the Edit Chapter Title section. I am pleased to announce that six chapters and a few thousands words later, my chapter headings finally make sense!

* * *

_Somewhere, in an unknown time and an unknown dimension _

_ "See with your soul, not your eyes. Listen with your heart, not your ears. Perhaps then you will see the truth."_

Henry opened his eyes at the sound of the strange voice. He was surrounded by light and more light. Just where the hell was he, and where was that voice coming from?! The last thing that he remembered was something hitting him in the chest as he stepped towards his locker-

"Holy shit! Am I dead?!" he realized. "Is this what heaven looks like...or is it hell?"

As Henry's eyes slowly adjusted to his surroundings, he became aware of a cage in front of him. _Where did that come from?_ The teenager wondered as he took a step towards it.

A loud and blood-thirsting roar from inside the cage nearly gave Henry a heart attack. He turned and quickly ran in the opposite direction as fast as his legs would allow him. He didn't get very far away as he tripped over his shoelaces. As Henry fell, he could have sworn he heard bells ringing in the distance.

_"Not everything is what you think it is..."_

Henry groaned as he picked himself back up. He looked around but only the cage was behind him, and the voice was definitely _not_ coming from it. Just where was it coming from then? Suddenly, Henry gasped.

"Is this voice coming from inside me?!" he realized aloud. As a reply, the boy heard the bells again, but they were louder this time. Henry closed his eyes again, listening carefully.

_"See with your soul…"_

Another roar from the cage behind him jolted Henry out of his thoughts. Instead of being scared this time, Henry just sighed with annoyance.

"See with your soul…" he repeated the words of the voice to himself, ignoring the roar behind him. "I wonder if that means I should use my curiosity?" Against his better judgement, Henry really did want to know what was making those scary sounds inside that cage. "Well, there's only one way to find out," he muttered as he turned towards the cage.

"HELLOOOO?!" Henry bellowed inside the cage as he charged right up to it. There was a thump inside and unbelievably, the boy heard whimpering. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness inside the cage, Henry was surprised at just WHAT was inside.

A large teal-spotted lizard stared back up at him. The creature narrowed its orange eyes at Henry and gave another merciless roar. However, instead of being scared, Henry just laughed.

The creature blinked as the human fell to his knees. He was laughing so hard that tears were forming around his eyelids. "What's so funny?!" the creature snapped in a surprising high voice. At the childish sound, Henry only laughed harder.

"HELLOOOO?!" Henry repeated as he wiped away a tear. "Here I was, wondering what kind of monster you were...and it turned out that you're only a lizard with a girl's voice and wearing some really ugly body paint!"

"Shut up!" the creature shot back angrily, "I'm a Digimon! I can kill you right now if I want!" he threatened. At this, Henry suddenly stopped laughing.

"A Digimon?" he repeated. "Just like Phoebe's dog?" Henry continued, thinking back to the white puppy in his classmate's arms. "But you both look so harmless!"

"Don't underestimate us Digimon!" the creature was practically throwing a tantrum inside the cage now. "Don't you dare even think about it, or else I'll rip you to shreds! And make Digimon chow out of you! And then I'll...!"

_This Digimon..._ Henry realized as the Digimon kept ranting, _Is so angry..._The teenager closed his eyes. _Just like them..._

_"Listen to yourself! It's too dangerous!"_

_"Amy's right! You'll get into big trouble for something as trivial as this!"_

_"Henry, you fool!" Henry couldn't remember the last time Christina was so angry at him. "If you're the target, then-"_

"You should know better than to make yourself the target..." Henry muttered aloud without thinking. The Digimon's orange eyes widened in surprise. "I guess someone probably told you something similar, right?" he asked the imprisoned creature.

"You don't understand anything, human!" the Digimon snapped, its voice breaking with raw emotion. Henry was surprised to see the large orange eyes tearing up. "They weren't my friends at all! If they were, they would have helped me obtain my revenge! But that doesn't matter now...because they're all DEAD! Those liars died on me!" he cried as a tear escaped his eye.

Henry stared at the Digimon as it broke down in tears. _Revenge?_ He repeated. _Dead? Liars?_ The Digimon's words were provoking a familiar feeling within the teenage boy. They were arousing a guilty feeling that Henry thought he had buried a long time ago:

* * *

_It was raining. A woman was sobbing hysterically as she knelt in front of a white slab of marble protruding out of the ground, her appearance the least of her concerns at the moment. The large crowd behind her stood as still as statues._

_The statues gradually disappeared until one small one remained. A ten-year-old Henry stood alone in front of the white stone, crying silent tears and clenching his fists. Bo, the name of the boy who he thought was his friend, was etched on the smooth surface. _

_Not long ago, nine year old Henry had been on the ground, crying over a broken toy. A tall figure had rushed over at the sound of the commotion._

_"Baba! Bo lied! He broke Miao!" the boy had cried. Next to him was a pile of sharp fragments of what used to be a crystal cat._

_"You have to get back at him! You have to!" Henry had screamed one last time._

_Two days later, the boy named Bo died after falling into the well outside his family's ancestral home. His death was officially ruled an accident._

_A day before the funeral, Bo's sister had tried to hurt Henry after lying to him that he was forgiven, but Henry's father saved him. That was when the boy decided, that after himself, he could only trust his own blood. Everyone else, blinded by revenge, or anything else for that matter...could become liars._

_A tall figure with an umbrella appeared behind Henry, who was still standing in the rain. _

_"You shouldn't be sad for him," the voice said. "Where he is going, he will never have to see suffering. But you, you will keep living on in this cruel world full of lies." The figure's mouth moved some more, but his words were silent, and probably lost forever._

* * *

"I shouldn't have trusted them," the Digimon sniffed, interrupting Henry's thoughts. "But when I think of all our times together, I just can't bring myself to hate them..." the creature broke down once more.

_"...this cruel world full of lies..."_

_Baba said that, right? But he also said something else, right?_ Henry tried to remember, but couldn't. Either way, was he correct? What if Bo was really-?

"Are you even listening to me?!"

Henry glared at the Digimon for interrupting his thoughts once more, and received another glowing orange glare in return. "No, you got a problem with that?" he dared.

"Why you..." the Digimon growled. "When I get out of here-"

"Why are you in a cage anyway?" Henry interrupted, suddenly curious. The angry look on the creature's face disappeared as quickly as Amy's weekly allowance.

"I..." the Digimon hesitated. "I chose to be locked up," he revealed to Henry's surprise. "It's for my own good because now, no one will ever lie to me again."

"So, you're going to waste the rest of your life away?! Henry asked angrily.

The Digimon shrugged its shoulders. "Everything and everyone I cared about are long gone. As far as I'm concerned, my life is over."

"Dumbass!" Henry snapped, getting to his feet to glare at the surprised creature. "Don't lie to yourself! You want to finish what you started, right? Your revenge? Then at least get it for your own sake, whatever it is! That way, whatever or whoever hurt you in the first place won't have a chance to do it again! The most important thing is-" the teen insisted.

"Shut up, Henry! You don't know anything!" the creature interrupted.

"Why you..." Henry began, but blinked in surprise when he realized what the Digimon just said. "Did you just call me by my name? But… how?"

The creature's face was the epitome of confusion. "Henry?" he repeated. "But how...?" he began just as the light above their heads became somewhat dimmer.

A chorus of voices rained down on them like bells. _Henry, wake up, please! I'll never ask you for money again, I swear! Henry! I'll never argue with you again so, please, don't leave us! I'll buy you Teriyaki Chicken for a week if you wake up right now!_

"HEY! Where are you going?! We're not done talking yet!" the Digimon shouted as Henry began to fade from existence right before its eyes.

The boy could only stare at him as he disappeared. "Your name is..." the human muttered in surprise. "Commandramon..."

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Baba_: 'Father' (Chinese)


	8. Chapter 7: An Impulse and Two Names

"He's waking up! Oh, thank god! Bless my poor wallet! Ow!"

Henry opened his eyes to see all his friends, Phoebe, and the blond guy looking down at him. It took him a moment to remember that the blond guy was the new exchange student, Tohma.

_Was it all a dream?_ he wondered as Roscoe helped him sit up. If so, why did he suddenly learn the name of that Digimon he met at the very end?

"Commandramon..." He muttered as Plotmon and a strange blue and white dog turned around to stare at him.

"The light! It's back!" the floating pink and green acorn gasped as an orb of teal-coloured light appeared in front of them.

"It looks different from the one before," Christina realized.

"Gaomon, get ready," Tohma ordered a blue dog he had never seen before.

"Yes, Master!" it replied.

"Henry, we're not done talking yet!" a voice suddenly called from the light, surprising everyone.

"It's you!" Henry gasped as the light turned into a blue silhouette, and then into...

"Agumon!" Tohma, Masaru, and a woman with pink hair gasped as a teal-spotted lizard materialized in the dark hallway.

"Wait, what?" the creature blinked its orange eyes in confusion. He frowned. "Who's Agumon? I'm Commandramon, you fools! Now, where is...Henry! There you are, you coward! Running away like that! When I get my hands on you...!"

"Watch out!" Roscoe and Allen pulled their dazed friend away as Gaomon, Tohma, Masaru, and even Plotmon restrained the weird lizard that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Henry, who is this?!" Tohma demanded. "How do you two know each other?"

"Commandramon, what are you going here?" Henry ignored the DATS' agent's question, focusing his attention on the lizard instead.

The Digimon snarled. "How did I know your name without you telling me? More importantly, how do you know mine?! Did you do something to me?!"

"I thought you were locked in that cage!"

"What?!" the Digimon looked puzzled by Henry's exclamation before he realized what the human was talking about. "Oh, that cage! It's just a thing that I had some Bakemon built for me but knowing them-Oh, just forget it!" Commandramon snapped, cutting himself off. "I'm in the middle of an emergency here!"

"_This_ is an emergency? You not understanding why you knew my name constitutes as an emergency?" Henry gaped, aghast that such a trivial matter could be seen by anyone as a priority.

"It is an emergency to me!" the lizard barked. "I hate being confused! It stands in the way of any revenge; you of all people should understand this!"

_Confused?_ Henry repeated, thinking back to the thoughts that he had with himself back in that dream-like world. Obviously, it wasn't a dream if Commandramon was now here in front of him, but still...

"Are you even paying attention to me?!"

* * *

Yoshino poked Masaru in the ribs, causing the brunette to yelp in surprise, as he had been pulled into the fascinating display of verbal exchanges between Henry and the Digimon who really did look like Agumon… minus the ugly blue body paint.

"Don't they remind you of Agumon and yourself?" she asked her teammate with a teasing smile. "Especially over something as trivial as this?"

"_Nani_? I don't act as immature as that guy!" Masaru insisted as Tohma smirked.

"I thought they reminded me of he and Tohma, especially when they're bickering," Lalamon opined.

"_Nani_? I don't act as immature as this guy!" Tohma's smirk disappeared as he and Masaru glared at each other.

Suddenly, Plotmon barked so loudly that everyone, even Phoebe, could have sworn their eardrums had punctured. It was only when the puppy Digimon spoke again could they all confirm that they were not deaf...yet.

"Who cares how and why Commandramon is here!" Plotmon shouted angrily. "I just want to know what he is going to do now that he _is_ here, in the human world!"

"What?! I'm in the human world?!" Commandramon blurted out. For the first time, he saw that Henry was no longer the only human in the room. The teal lizard looked like he was going to faint any moment now from fear and shock.

"What are you doing?!" Henry hissed as Tohma, Gaomon, Masaru, Yoshino, and Lalamon surrounded the now-very distressed Commandramon.

"It is DATS policy that any wild Digimon that appear in the human world be destroyed and sent back into the Digital World as a DigiEgg," Tohma explained in a solemn tone. "Now, stand back," he ordered sternly, but Henry wasn't having any of it.

"Bullshit! We were just talking!" he insisted as he glanced over at Commandramon, who was still staring off into space. It was as if the Digimon had suddenly become paralyzed after seeing so many humans. "We can all judge his intentions after!"

"Get back here!" Tohma demanded frantically as Henry freed himself from his friend's grasp and ran towards Commandramon. "Masaru, stop him!"

"_Oi,_ kid! Leave this one to the pros!" Masaru exclaimed as he aimed a punch at the teen.

"Shut up!" Henry, still not understanding a single word from the brunette, dodged his punch by dropping to the floor and skidding past him.

"**Nuts Shoot!**" Lalamon prepared herself to attack Commandramon in order to get it over with quickly. Suddenly, Henry stepped in front of the Digimon. Commandramon blinked, but it was too late.

"_Shimata_!" Tohma swore as the shower of hard nuts rained down on both human and Digimon.

* * *

"Henry!" Amy wailed as the last of Lalamon's attack hit its targets. Phoebe put a hand to her mouth in distress. There was nothing anyone could do but wait until the smoke cleared so that they could see if...

"Henry, he's okay!" Allen breathed a sigh of relief as his friend emerged from the smoke in one piece, without any bruises on him. A few seconds later, Commandramon also reappeared as well, his body shielding the human's.

"He protected him?" Yoshino gasped as Commandramon whimpered. "But why?"

"Henry, get away from him!" Tohma ordered, taking a step towards the duo. The Digimon whimpered again; it had been injured.

"NO!" Henry gave Tohma a look that could kill a bird, causing the former to flinch.

"You people don't understand anything..." Henry continued in a quiet voice. He put his hands on Commandramon's injured body. "Commandramon is...he is..." he whispered as the Digimon opened one weary orange eye and looked at him. Henry closed his eyes.

_He is just like me. _

"The light! What's that light in front of Henry?" Allen asked as a small ball of light appeared between his friend and the wounded Digimon. Henry opened his eyes and raised a hand towards the strange object. As soon as his hand touched the light, it turned into a familiar object that most people in the hallway recognized.

"An Ipod!" Amy recognized the strange device that Tohma had dropped in English class earlier today.

"No! It's a Digivice!" Plotmon corrected the girl.

"A Digivice?" Christina repeated. "What's that?" Henry could only stare at the white and teal object in his hand.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Phoebe behind him. "Aim it at Commandramon," she ordered him. Henry was so surprised that the girl even _knew_ how to give an order that he immediately complied.

The teal blue gem on the back of the Digivice glowed as it fired a similar-coloured beam of light at the injured Digimon. As everyone watched on, Commandramon's injuries were completely healed as he is completely engulfed in light.

"Where did he get the cool gear?!" Robert exclaimed as soon as the Digimon emerged from the light. Commandramon was now clad in a suit of military armour that made his awful body paint less noticeable. His new attire was even completed with a helmet, a rifle, gloves, and combat boots.

"Good to see you're okay now, Commandramon," Henry said as he and Commandramon helped each other to their feet. "You're made up of pretty strong stuff!"

"Heh," Commandramon smirked. "You're not bad yourself."

"What the hell..." Tohma muttered to himself.

"Master, it seems that they're friends now," Gaomon observed.

"But that Digivice..." Lalamon realized. "Does that mean that the two of them are partners now?"

"This is the worst!" Yoshino exclaimed. "How are we going to explain this to HQ?!"

"Just like _aniki_ and me!" Agumon pointed out.

"Agumon! When did you come out?!" Masaru jumped back in surprise.

"Just asked them to become affiliates of DATS," Plotmon wandered over to the six. "They can stay together, and you will obtain a new ally. Simple, _ne_?"

"No!" Commandramon shot back, having overheard Plotmon's suggestion. "I refuse to join forces with those who were just trying to kill me!"

"Now, now," Masaru raised his hands in a gesture of peace, "That was before you saved that guy. Here, let me introduce you to Agumon."

"_Konbanwa_!" the orange lizard greeted his blue and grey counterpart enthusiastically. "Do you know? About _aniki_ and I? Our first meeting was a fight between us men, and I won!"

"Like hell you did; it was a draw!" Masaru interrupted.

"Ah, but I saved you from Cockatrimon later, so in the end I was the strongest!" Agumon insisted.

"_Kisama_..." Masaru swore. "You only evolved because of my Digisoul!"

"_Oi_, are you two really going to have another petty fight over this again?!" Tohma inserted himself into the fight just ready to erupt.

"Just get to the point!" Commandramon growled.

"The point is that you should join DATS if you want to have more fights and grow stronger!" Masaru replied. Commandramon raised an eyebrow at him.

"Commandramon, what is that guy saying?" Henry asked impatiently.

"Mr. Wang, do you want to get stronger?" Plotmon asked the teen. "If so, join DATS."

Before Henry could reply, Christina spoke up. "Of course he doesn't!" Unlike her friend, she was learning Japanese and had an idea what Tohma and the others were discussing. "What he wants...you and DATS can't give it to him!"

"Chris... you..." Amy stared at her friend as Allen tried to calm her down. It had been years since they last saw Christina in such a state.

"Henry, what happened here?"At the sound of Commandramon's confused voice, everyone snapped out of their own thoughts and turned towards the newest Digimon, who was poking around at what used to be the inside of Henry's locker.

"_Nani_? You mean you weren't the one who blew it up?" Tohma asked as he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. If Commandramon hadn't been the one behind the destruction of Henry's locker, than that meant...

Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the entire building, causing everyone to fall to the ground. Lalamon is the first to get up.

"Fire!" the pink and green Digimon pointed towards the window, where red, orange, and grey colours were dancing together underneath the moonless sky.

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Shimata: _'Shit'

_Konbanwa: _'Good evening'

_Kisama_: 'You.' Probably the most impolite way to greet someone in Japan. May or may not result in a fight.


	9. Chapter 8: First Battle - Justice

"A winged lion!" Henry gasped as everyone rushed into the school's parking lot. A large creature with a flaming tail turned from a small fire to face them.

"That's Firamon!" Tohma exclaimed, informing Henry and the other English-language speakers of the monster's identity.

"Watch out!" Roscoe cried as Firamon fired a stream of fire at them from its mouth.

"But Firamon is a leader of justice!" Yoshino cried as she and Lalamon dodged the Adult Digimon's attack. "Why is he attacking us?!"

Commandramon snorted. "Justice is in the eye of the beholder," he told the pink-haired woman. "It would do you humans good to realize that most Digimon see you as the villains."

"Who cares about that?!" Masaru grumbled. "If that guy wants a fight, then a fight he will get! Agumon!"

"Wait!" Amy interrupted, squinting into the fire, and saw a shadow kneeling on the ground. "There's someone there!" she realized.

"Help us!" A familiar voice called out to them.

"It's Lucy Tran!" Robert recognized his classmate's voice. "We have to save her!" He began running towards the voice-

"Watch it!" Masaru yelled as he saved Robert from being sliced in two by Firamon's sharp claws.

"Plotmon!" Tohma addressed the white puppy. "I leave the extinguishing of the fire to you and the others, but you have to be quick about it! DATS will take care of Firamon and rescue that student! Gaomon!"

"Yes, Master!" the blue dog replied immediately.

Tohma snapped his fingers as a blue light appeared in his left hand. "Digisoul, Charge!" he shouted, slamming the light into his Digivice.

"Gaomon evolve to...Gaogamon!"

"Wow!" Henry stared in amazement as the gigantic blue wolf leapt towards Firamon. Was this what Tohma had meant by evolution? Unbeknownst to him, Commandramon was also staring at Gaogamon with just as much fascination.

"Henry, Commandramon! Stop standing around and help us put out the fire!" Christina practically screamed at them. Allen had already turned on the building's main water pipe and now Robert and Roscoe were attaching the hose to the tap. "Now!"

* * *

"Digisoul, Charge!" Yoshino cried as she tapped a pink light onto her pink and white Digivice.

"Lalamon evolve to...Sunflowmon!" A giant sunflower with a creepy face emerged from the light and flew towards Firamon. "**Sunshine Beam!**" the Adult Digimon cried, firing rays of sunlight from all the petals encasing its face at the winged lion. For a moment, the glowing red night in the school's parking lot was replaced with the light of day.

"Hey, watch it!" Henry yelled at the giant sunflower. "You almost hit us too!"

"So sorry," Sunflowmon apologized as Gaogamon leapt past it and towards Firamon.

"**Dash Double Claw!**" the blue wolf roared, slamming its body into Firamon like a battering ram.

"Now, Masaru!" Tohma shouted as Firamon stumbled backwards.

"You don't need to tell me that!" Masaru yelled as he ran up to the winged lion and punched it.

"_Aniki_!" Agumon shouted happily.

"Digisoul, Charge!" Masaru shouted as he unleashed the orange light into his orange and white Digivice.

"Agumon evolve to...GeoGreymon!" An orange dinosaur roared as it stomped towards Firamon.

"GeoGreymon! Deal with Firamon while we get the girl!" Tohma ordered as he ran past them on Gaogamon's back.

"_Oi,_ Tohma! Don't order my follower around!" Masaru shouted after him, but the blond just ignored him.

* * *

"**Spiral Blow!**" Gaogamon roared, whipping up a tornado in its mouth. The large gust of wind blew out the flames surrounding the innocent victim.

"_Daijoubu_?" Yoshino asked as she ran up to Lucy, who was kneeling on the ground and shaking in fright. Suddenly, the older girl gasped when she saw that the girl wasn't alone. "Is that...?" she muttered.

"A Digimon!" Sunflowmon realized as she landed near them, having caught side of the white ball of slime in Lucy's arms. The slime's large black eyes opened even larger when it caught sight of the gigantic flower.

"Don't scare it!" Lucy finally spoke, holding the white slime closer to her body. "Pupu's just a baby!"

Yoshino gave Tohma a confused look as he and Gaogamon came over. "What is she saying?" she asked her teammate.

Tohma looked at the Baby Digimon in the girl's arms, and then at the girl's herself. "Where did you find that creature?" He asked Lucy in a stern voice.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. "Why should I tell you?" she replied suspiciously.

Tohma sighed. It looked like he had to give his explanation on the Digimon and DATS all over again.

* * *

"**Mega Flame!**" GeoGreymon fired a burst of flames from its large mouth.

"**Fira Bomb!**" Firamon countered, shooting several fire bombs from the red jewel on its forehead. The two fiery attacks met in the middle and neutralized each other out in an explosion of flames.

"Ah! More water to section 3!" Plotmon barked as the flames from the attacks hit the cement. Allen quickly ran over with a hose as Firamon took to the skies.

"GeoGreymon, heads up! The jerk's planning something!" Masaru warned his partner as GeoGreymon looked up just as Firamon burst into flames.

"**Flame Dive!**" The next thing everyone knew, the flaming rocket that was Firamon fell from the sky like a rock and drove into GeoGreymon's unprotected back.

"GeoGreymon! Stand up! Stand up!" Masaru practically screamed as GeoGreymon fell to his knees. Firamon flew up into the sky, ready for round two.

"**Puppy Howling!**" Plotmon howled a super-high pitched howl that was able to briefly distract Firamon. "GeoGreymon, now!" she cried.

The angry dinosaur glared up at the winged lion. "**Mega Burst!**" he roared, firing an even larger version of his 'Mega Flame' attack at his foe as it drove down towards him again.

Suddenly, Firamon emerged from the flames and leapt towards the surprised GeoGreymon. "**Fira Claw!**" it roared as its claws caught fire. The winged lion slashed the orange dinosaur right down his front side.

"GeoGreymon!" Masaru shouted anxiously as the large orange dinosaur fell to its side with an earth-shaking thump, crushing the cement in the process. The brunette quickly ran over to his follower.

"_Aniki_,_ gomen_...He's too strong..." GeoGreymon replied with a croak.

"Damn it! Why is he so strong?!" Masaru swore as he glared at Firamon, who was walking towards them.

For the first time, Firamon spoke: "Because I am a leader of justice! I will not allow anyone to hurt Pupumon, especially not the wicked humans!" He roared, preparing to attack once more.

"**Sunshine Beam!**"

"**Spiral Blow!**"

Firamon was knocked against the side of the building from Sunflowmon and Gaogamon's combined attacks. The winged lion sighed as he picked itself off from the rubble.

"When will you traitors learn your lesson?" the lion sighed, looking at Sunflowmon and Gaogamon sadly. "Humans are our enemies, and they always will be."

* * *

"Hush, Pupu; you'll be safe as long as you're in my arms," Lucy gently assured the small white Digimon in her arms. "I'll protect you always," she vowed as she rocked the Digimon gently back and forth in her arms.

Yoshino stared at the girl. A moment ago she had been staring daggers at Tohma and her, not unlike the scary piano teacher that the older girl had as a child, and now she looked like the Virgin Mary. Yoshino was growing more and more confused by the moment.

"Yoshino, concentrate!" Tohma jolted the pink-haired woman out of her thoughts. "Listen, I have a plan to deal with Firamon, but I'm going to need Sunflowmon's help! Can you do it?" he asked, but it was more like a demand.

"_Hai_!" Yoshino replied immediately.

"Good; Gaogamon, do formation Y2!" the blond ordered.

"Yes, Master!" the blue wolf barked. It charged towards Firamon at full speed.

"Fool," Firamon sighed as he flew into the air at the last second. To his shock however, Gaogamon defied inertia by sinking his claws into the ground and immediately coming to a halt. The wolf quickly turned its head towards the winged lion.

"**Spiral Blow**!" Gaogamon attacked, sending Firamon flying through the air.

Suddenly, Sunflowmon appeared above the winged lion. Firamon's eyes opened wide in shock.

The large sunflower smiled. "**Smiley Slap**!" it cried and with a large green arm, slammed the lion into the ground so hard that the impact created a crater in the cement.

"Did they get him?!" Masaru wondered as everyone waited for the smoke to clear. Suddenly, the smoke is blown aside as a very angry Firamon ignited into flames.

"Justice..." the winged lion muttered, "...will always prevail!" he roared as the red jewel on its forehead flashed brightly.

* * *

"Pupu, get back here!" Lucy cried as the Baby Digimon slipped out of her arms and flew towards Firamon on thin blue wings. "It's dangerous!" she shouted. Meanwhile, the winged lion got his revenge by knocking an injured Gaogamon into GeoGreymon as the latter was attempting to get back up.

"Pu, pu, pu!" Pupumon shot what looked like green bubbles at Firamon, interrupting the latter from finishing off Sunflowmon. "Pu, pu!"

"Pupumon, why?" Firamon muttered, turning his attention towards the small white slime. Its large black eyes were glaring at it. "The humans are our enemy, don't you see? Or did that wrenched girl...?!" the lion's eyes suddenly lit up in anger as it turned his attention upon Lucy.

"Don't you dare hurt Pupu!" Lucy accused as she caught the Baby Digimon before it could get away from her again. She smiled faintly as the creature snuggled into her arms. "There, there, Mama's here for you now..." she comforted the little being.

"How dare you taint Pupumon's mind?!" Firamon roared angrily. "Humans and Digimon should never be allowed to trust each other! **Fira**-"

"**DCD Bomb!**"

"Get out of there!" Plotmon urged Lucy as Firamon was distracted by the miniature bomb that had exploded right in front of him.

"Lucy, over here!" Amy called as Lucy, with Pupumon in her arms, ran over to her and the others.

"What? Another traitor?" Firamon swore underneath his breath as Commandramon stepped up to face the Adult Digimon.

"Not really," Commandramon replied. "I hate the humans as much as you do but I can't let a defenceless one died right in front of my eyes!"

"Fool!" Firamon snapped back, "Did the humans think that when they massacred all our families and friends all those years ago?!"

"Massacred?"Tohma wondered aloud.

"What is he talking about?" Yoshino asked herself.

"Commandramon, don't listen to him!" Henry broke the stunned silence. "The only way you're going to get your revenge is if you believe in yourself! You have to trust yourself first! That's the most important thing! Finish what you started!"

"Finish...what I've started?" Commandramon blinked.

"Pu, pu!"

The armed lizard and everyone turned to Pupumon, whose mouth was foaming with bubbles as it looked at Commandramon with gigantic but adorable puppy eyes.

"Pupumon, stop it already, you-!" An angry Firamon began, but the winged lion is interrupted as shots are fired at him.

"**M16 Assassin!**" Commandramon roared, shooting a round of bullets from his hand-held rifle at the Adult.

_This is for Pupumon..._Commandramon reminded himself as an angry Firamon charged towards him. _So that...maybe...he can receive what I've lost..._ Commandramon continued as his angry opponent loomed over him.

The attack came. "**Fira Claw**!"

_That much...I understand..._Commandramon realized as he closed his eyes.

* * *

"NO! Commandramon!" Henry shouted as Commandramon is sent flying backwards from Firamon's attack.

"Sunflowmon!" Yoshino shouted. Although it was injured, the giant sunflower flew across the parking lot and caught Commandramon before he could crash headfirst into the walls of the school.

"You're awful..." Henry muttered. He raised his head and glared at Firamon with a fiery intensity. "You're awful, just awful!" the boy exclaimed in a rage. "A bastard! Murderer!"

"Why you..." Firamon snarled. The silhouette of his body wasn't even visible anymore as the flames engulfing it had flared up even more. "You humans are the murderers!"

"Shut up!" Henry snapped as he clenched his fists. "You're the one trying to kill us...right in front of something that's just a baby!" He shouted as a teal-coloured light appeared in his right fist, to everyone, but especially, the DATS members' surprises.

"Digisoul!" Gaogamon gasped.

"_Oi_!" Henry looked up and saw Masaru holding up his orange and white Ipod thingy. The brunette was also pointing at something. Henry looked down and saw the teal-coloured light in his left hand for the first time.

"What the hell is this?!" Henry swore.

"**Fira**-" Firamon began.

"**Puppy Howling!**" Plotmon howled. As Firamon tried to regain its senses, the winged lion swore to itself for falling for the same trick twice.

"_OI_!" Masaru shouted again. He ran over to Henry and grabbed his left arm.

"What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Henry tried to release himself from the crazy guy's grasp, but physical strength wasn't really his forte.

"Masaru!" Yoshino scolded her teammate. "Try to grasp the situation here!"

"Henry, just tap that light onto your Digivice!" Tohma called. "He'll let go of you, I promise!"

"Fine!" Henry snapped as Masaru finally let go of his arm. The teenager slammed the teal orb of light onto his matching Digivice as Masaru filled in for him:

"Digisoul, Charge!"

From across the parking lot, Commandramon suddenly opened its eyes, feeling a burst of renewed power coming from the light that was heading straight towards him...

"Commandramon evolve to...Sealsdramon!"

"Holy shit..." Robert muttered as a creature that was decked from head to toe in military gear emerged from the fading light. Its face was completely concealed by a helmet, making it ever the more mysterious.

"Sealsdramon..." Tohma muttered.

"Commandramon evolved so quickly, just like that time with..." Yoshino gulped as she glanced at Henry, and then at Masaru.

"_Sugoi!_" Masaru exclaimed excitedly. As usual, his mood was the complete opposite of everyone else's.

"Commandramon...evolved?" Henry gaped. "But how?"

"You can't turn back now," Henry looked down and saw that Plotmon was looking up at him with very stern eyes. "Commandramon evolved because of your feelings. Now, will you let him finish what both of you started?"

"Henry, don't!" Christina pleaded.

Henry took a deep breath, but deep inside, he knew that he had already made up his mind long before this moment. The boy opened his mouth.

"Sealsdramon! Get him!" Henry yelled.

Allen put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder as Sealsdramon very expertly dodged Firamon's fiery charge. "That guy...is always courting danger, remember?" he reminded her. "Even you can't stop him when he's made up his mind."

"Yes, he's a stubborn fool," Amy chimed in. "Who is our friend."

* * *

"Hm!" Sealsdramon grunted as he jumped back from Firamon's diving rocket of flames.

"It's really fast!" Yoshino observed as Tohma typed away on his analyser.

"Probably because it's smaller than Firamon and our Digimon," the blond replied. "But still...how can we defeat Firamon?"

"**Scouter Monoeye**!" Sealsdramon shouted as the blue eyepiece on the right side of its helmet glowed. "Everyone, aim for the red jewel on its forehead!" the Digimon declared a moment later. "It's his weak spot!"

"Why you..." Firamon growled. "I'll be sure to burn you to nothingness! **Fira**-!"

"**Sunshine Beam**!"

"**Puppy Howling**!"

Sunflowmon and Plotmon's combined attack effectively blinded and stunned the winged lion for a moment, but a moment was all GeoGreymon and Gaogamon needed.

"**Spiral Blow**!"

"**Mega Flame**!"

The wind and fire attacks came together in a fiery tornado that even Firamon couldn't take. The winged lion roared in pain as it was sent flying straight into the air.

Sealsdramon revealed a knife from its breast pocket. It was so sharp that even Henry and the others could hear the slash it made in the air as it was unsheathed and aimed at the fallen Firamon.

"**Death Behind**!" Suddenly, Sealsdramon appeared right above the winged lion's head. Firamon's eyes widened in shock as the Cyborg stabbed the knife right through his forehead, shattering the red gem.

"Finally!" Masaru sighed in relief as Sealsdramon jumped back from Firamon.

"This isn't over! The Digimon _will_ have their revenge upon the humans!" Firamon vowed before reverting back into a DigiEgg.

"We did it, _aniki_!" Agumon cheered as he, Lalamon, and Gaomon returned.

Yoshino sighed as Lalamon flew off to retrieve the orange and red-spotted Digi-_tama_ that had been Firamon. "The worst is finally over, I hope."

* * *

**Glossary**:

_Sugoi: _'Amazing/incredible.' The Japanese equivalent of 'cool!'


	10. Chapter 9: The First Aftermath

_A/N: _To my valued readers: This chapter wraps up the first 'arc' of this story and prepares it for the launching of the second one. In the words of my sister and beta reader, this chapter can best be summarized as: 'nothing really happened.' I tried to keep it short, but I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter just the same. I promise that the next few chapters will be more interesting.

* * *

"All done!" Robert cheered as he and Roscoe finished putting out the last fire.

Tohma looked around the parking lot and sighed. Not only were large sections of the cement scorched, but there were several craters all around. A wall of the school's building had completely caved in thanks to Firamon crashing into it earlier.

"Let's just get out of here before anyone comes!" Christina pleaded. "I don't want-!"

"Pupu!" Lucy's voice suddenly screamed.

"Master, come quickly! Something's happening to Pupumon!" Gaomon's voice alerted everyone.

The white slime in Lucy's arms was shaking violently, although the immediate danger of Firamon was gone. However, before anyone could say anything, a white light surrounded the little creature.

"_Aniki_, is that...?" Agumon's eyes were bright as Pupumon disappeared into the light.

"Pupumon evolve to...Puroromon!"

"Holy shit! It can fly!" Robert exclaimed as a large yellow bee, minus the black stripes, buzzed out of Lucy's arms.

"Puroromon!" the bee buzzed back into Lucy's arms and looked up at her with large green eyes and a zig-zagged smile on its face.

Lucy smiled at the creature, her face not showing any fear or surprise. "Don't worry; I'll take care of you just the same," she promised. Even Tohma was surprised at how calm the girl was.

The blond sighed. It had been a long night. He only hoped that nothing more-

"Digivice!" Masaru's voice interrupted his thoughts. Tohma looked up just in time to see an olive-coloured orb of light drifted down into Lucy and Puroromon's waiting hands.

Masaru smirked and Yoshino could only facepalm as the girl began to ask about the new white and olive-coloured Digivice in her hand. At that moment, both of them thanked the gods for their lack of knowledge on the English language.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the DATS van pulled over next to a deserted park in a quiet residential area.

"What a cool van!" Robert exclaimed as he poked his nose around the van, looking at the computers and other pieces of technology installed inside it.

The DATS team came over to him and the others with paper cups full of steaming liquid. "Hot chocolate," Yoshino told Christina awkwardly in English, "Is good."

Christina managed to smile as she took the cup. "Thank you," she replied politely.

Tohma and Gaomon put the DigiEgg in a long metal box behind the driver's seat and closed the lid.

"What was that egg?" Amy, who had been keeping a close eye on Tohma ever since his long explanation about the Digimon, asked.

"It's a Digi-_tama_...or a DigiEgg," Tohma explained as he and Gaomon sat on top of the box. "All Digimon start and end their lives as an egg full of simple data. Thus, they never die and will only be reborn again."

"So the egg I found earlier, the one that hatched into Pupumon, was a DigiEgg too?" Lucy asked. Tohma nodded in reply.

"I see..." the girl muttered. She was slowly beginning to understand what was going on here.

Roscoe put down his hot chocolate. "What are you going to do now?" he asked Tohma solemnly, who was taking a long sip from a bottle of water.

Tohma took a deep breath before replying. "All Digimon that are reverted back to a DigiEgg in the human world must be return to the Digital World, where they belong, so they can be reborn. The only locations where this return can be made are at branches of DATS, so my teammates and I have to return to Japan before this egg hatches and…" He turned around and saw the faces of the Canadian students in the van with them. There was a long and uncomfortable silence.

"So, you guys are leaving so soon," Allen broke the silence. "That's too bad; I was hoping we could get together and get to know each other better. That's a bummer…" There was more silence.

"_Oi!_"

Both Tohma and Yoshino were annoyed. Once again, their hot-headed teammate was not able to read the mood in the air.

Masaru continued as if he hadn't noticed his teammates glaring at him. "Daimon Masaru…" he said, pointing to himself, as he extended his hand to Henry.

After a pause, Henry extended his hand as well and the two exchanged a warm handshake, much to everyone's surprises. "I'm Henry Wang."

"I'm Agumon!" Agumon extended a large orange claw towards Commandramon. "Looks like _aniki_ got himself another follower!" he exclaimed. Commandramon just raised his eyebrow at this comment as he shook Agumon's claw, albeit not without hesitation.

"I'm Puroromon!" the large yellow bee buzzed back into the van from wherever it had gone to.

"It looks like the language barrier can be overcome with common sense and body language!" Allen remarked as Lucy scolded the Digimon for running off without her knowing.

Tohma sighed heavily, but he was thinking hard. There was no way DATS could return to Japan now without first doing something about the two new human-Digimon partner teams of Henry and Commandramon, and Lucy and Puroromon, here in Vancouver. The blond looked at Yoshino. As if knowing what he was thinking, the older girl scowled at him.

"This is the worst!" she exclaimed. "I'm not going to be the one who's explaining this to the _taichou!_" she told him.

Meanwhile, Henry was pushing away at the teal buttons of his Digivice. "Having fun with your new toy?" Robert teased his friend.

"Oh, yeah..." Henry replied as a holographic screen appeared in front of him. "It even has a holographic map of the surrounding area!" the boy exclaimed as he pressed another button. A holographic picture of Firamon appeared. "Hey, what's this?!"

"That's the Digimon database," Gaomon explained in English. "It has all the information about the Digimon that your Digimon partner, in this case, Commandramon, has encountered."

"Firamon: Level – Adult. Type – Beast. Attribute – Vaccine. Special attacks – Flame Dive, Fira Bomb, and Fira Claw. Description: Protects the historical remains in the Digital World from those who would destroy it, like the good leader he is. Also known as the 'Lion Flying in the Sky'" Henry read. "Interesting..."

"Don't hog your new toy, Henry!" Allen laughed as he tried to grab the Digivice out of his friend's hands. "Come on, let your friends have a look at it!"

* * *

"Hey, I was thinking..." Robert spoke up. "After tonight, we really need a way to cool off and relax. Soooo... How about we hit the mall tomorrow? After all, it's a Saturday!"

"We have to study for midterms!" Roscoe protested.

"Aww...we can't study if we're so tensed up about digital monsters and worrying about when they might attack next," argued Amy, the shopaholic of the group, agreeing with Robert. "Plus, I won't be able to shop when midterms start next week, so I might as well waste all my allowance tomorrow!" She giggled. "Right, Chris?"

"Well..." Christina hesitated. "I'm not sure-"

"I heard there's a sale at Gucci this weekend!" Amy interrupted, knowing that Christina, who loved her shoes almost as much she loved Allen, would not be able to resist this new temptation.

"Tohma, why don't you and your teammates join us?" Christina turned to the amused blond, who had been watching them the entire time. "It's only one day, and you have to keep an eye on _them_ too, right?" She glanced at Commandramon and Puroromon.

"She's right," Yoshino told her teammate in a low voice. Even if her English wasn't as good as Tohma's, Yoshino was able to read body language incredibly well. "We need to keep a close eye on these new Digimon until we find a way to deal with them, or at least until they decide to join DATS as members. But..." The woman glanced over at Plotmon, who was trying to talk to Henry and Commandramon, but the two of them kept turning away from the puppy.

"I know," Tohma whispered back, "It looks like convincing them will be difficult."

"Lucy and Phoebe, please join us as well," Allen extended the invitation to the mall to the two girls who were outside his circle of friends. "After all, you both helped us a lot tonight."

"Well, I'm not sure..." Phoebe stammered.

"Of course she'll go!" Plotmon interrupted, nudging her partner. "Where and when?" the puppy asked before Phoebe could say anything else.

"11 o'clock tomorrow in the food court at...hmmm...how about the Brook?" Allen turned to his friends for their inputs. "It's the closest one near here, after all."

"With a Gucci," Christina added.

"Yeah, Brookbridge Centre is fine..." Roscoe muttered, still not sure whether the whole thing was a good idea or not.

"I can't go," Lucy spoke up, "I have...work to go to," she explained quietly.

"No, you don't," Henry spoke up, "You told Maria two weeks ago that you were only free on Saturdays to work on team projects, if I remember correctly. If you're free, you better come," he said in his no-nonsense voice.

After a tense silence, Lucy sighed in defeat. "I'll be there," she muttered as somebody's cell phone rang.

"I have to go," Phoebe bowed her head apologetically as she and Plotmon hopped out of the back of the van. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Commandramon and co.!" Plotmon added cheerfully.

Lucy stood up. "I'll be leaving as well," she said. "Come, Puroromon." The two of them, plus Phoebe and Plotmon, disappeared into the darkness.

"Will they be alright by themselves, in the dark?" Roscoe asked anxiously. "All four of them?"

"That dog and bee-like thing is with them," Allen assured his friend. "They'll be fine...at least, compared to what she probably has to face at home," he muttered.

"Who?" Gaomon, who had been eavesdropping on them by orders of his master, asked solemnly. "And what do you mean?"

Allen and Roscoe glanced at each other nervously, but it was Amy, sitting beside Roscoe, who spoke first:

"It's only a rumour," the girl said in a low voice so that the others wouldn't hear them, "about Lucy. But one way or another, a lot of students in our school thinks that her family are gang members."

* * *

Later, after the Canadians had left, Masaru and the others got ready to settle down for the day.

"_Oi_ Tohma," Masaru spoke up from his sleeping bag, "Are you absolutely sure it was a good idea to sent Commandramon home with that boy? They were still bickering when they left..."

"Well, since they're partners now, they have to get along anyway, whether they like it or not," Tohma replied. "Better start knowing each other now than later."

"_Aniki_, we fought a lot too when we first met," Agumon spoke up.

"You two still do," Gaomon sighed as he finished his cup of hot chocolate.

Yoshino smiled. "They're a lot like the two of you," she teased as Masaru and Agumon glared at her.

"I'm kind of glad I've met them however," Masaru sighed after a moment, "That kid really gave Firamon a scare, and his Digimon is awesome-"

"_Aniki_!" Agumon pouted, hurt by his boss's praise for another Digimon.

Masaru laughed. "I can see that they'll both be going places, Agumon. Not only them, but everyone else: they're going to become really strong! Agumon, we can't lose to them!" he vowed.

"Right! We definitely won't!" Agumon vowed, his sour feelings evaporating.

"We have to become stronger than them! We have to train more!" Masaru yawned. "Tomorrow, okay, Agumon?" the brunette yawned again.

Agumon's large green eyes were fluttering with sleepiness. "Sure thing, _aniki_..." the orange lizard muttered as he closed his eyes. "Tomorrow..."

Tohma and Yoshino shook their heads as their teammates tired themselves to sleep. In moments, the van was full of their loud and rather disgusting snores.

"Tohma."

The blond turned his attention to his older teammate. Yoshino had a stern look on her face.

"Just why did you tell those kids the truth about DATS and the Digimon?" she asked. "Did...did Plotmon and her partner have something to do with it?"

"Perhaps..." Tohma replied quietly. "But maybe..." the blond glanced at Masaru and Agumon, who were snoring like pigs on the floor of the van.

"Tohma?" Yoshino asked, confused.

In the darkness, the blond smiled to himself. "Maybe it was because Masaru was on to something..."

* * *

No Glossary this week!

_A/N:_ I'm be on vacation next week in a place where obtaining a good Internet connection will be difficult. Thus, expect Chapter 10 to be published on the 19th of August at the earliest.

P.S. A big shout out and thank you to **krikanalo,** for being my only reviewer so far. I really appreciate it!


	11. Chapter 10: Family - Conflict

_A/N: _I'm finally back from my vacation. Chapter Ten focuses entirely on my OCs, so for all those readers out there who support the canon characters, please bear with me for just this one chapter. Thank you!

* * *

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Phoebe said quietly. She was sitting on the windowsill and looking out at Vancouver's night view.

A man in a leather jacket came into the dark room. "Ruo Lan, your mother...I mean...Elder Sister wanted you to know that she and her husband will be late coming home tonight," he told the girl.

"The business again, then?" Phoebe asked quietly. She sighed deeply. "Not that I'm worried," she added bitterly. Plotmon, who had been resting on the girl's lap, glanced up at her.

The man sighed. "I know that this is a hard time for you Lan; it is for everyone who suddenly learned that they were adopted. Just so you know...We'll all do our best to help you get through this."

Phoebe just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't care..." she remarked indifferently.

"Ruo Lan..." Plotmon said quietly.

"Uncle, you were the one who found me, right?" Phoebe continued as she continued to stare out the window. "Tell me more about it."

Phoebe's uncle shook his head. "Elder Sister has already told you everything I know: About fifteen years ago, in Beijing, I found you by the garbage near a friend's house while jogging one morning. You were about a year old, and wrapped in a fairly new blue blanket along with a scarf and a picture of an orchid flower. That's why I named you Ruo Lan, which means 'like an orchid' in Chinese. Anyway, Elder Sister took a liking to you immediately and since she and her husband didn't have any children, they decided to adopt you. Soon after, we all came to Canada to escape from my creditor."

"Who you still haven't paid back," Phoebe added bitterly.

"I'll pay him back, eventually," the man replied meekly.

"All this time, since that incident, I was always alone," Phoebe's voice quivered as she spoke. "I had no friends, only Plotmon. She and my family were enough to keep me going, until now. But my family...not only were they not my family, but they didn't care about me after all..."

"Ruo Lan, of course we-" her uncle began.

Phoebe turned from the window and glared at him. "If you really cared, then why did you lie to me all these years?!" she snapped as tears ran down her face. "Why tell me the truth now?! Why?!"

* * *

Lucy frowned as she stood in front of the door to the penthouse suite that she shared with her mother. On the other side, she heard muffled voices, and knew that they had a visitor again. Lucy had a pretty good guess of who the visitor was.

The Vietnamese girl sighed as she unlocked the door and went in. "I'm home," she announced in a clear and strong voice. Like magic, the noise in the penthouse disappeared. Preparing herself both physically and mentally, Lucy walked into the living room.

Lucy's mother, Linda, stood up. "Well...welcome back, dear," she stammered, bowing several times at her daughter, as if it was her daughter and not _she_ who was supposed to be the head of the household. It took all of Lucy's willpower to not roll her eyes at her mother's actions. "I'll bring you some tea, dear. Please...please take a seat!" Linda finished in a hurry as she dashed from the room.

Lucy sat down in an armchair and turned to face her Uncle Le, although he was really her mother's paternal cousin. "Good evening, Uncle Le," Lucy greeted the large and bald middle-aged visitor in a stern voice. "Is something the matter?" she asked in a hard voice.

Le sat up straighter in his seat and looked at his young relative straight in the eye. "My Lucy, I wish you wouldn't be so suspicious of me all the time," he said in a silky voice. "You know that everything I do is for you and your mother's sake."

"Don't you mean that everything you do is to get your hands on Father's inheritance?" Lucy glared at her greedy relative. "If you really cared about my mother, you would have helped her when she got sick! Instead, you let her condition worsened, so that you could one day take advantage of her. Well, as long as I'm here, I'll never let you hurt her, you cheap bas-"

A loud noise behind Lucy interrupted her. The teenage girl spun around to see a mess of spilt tea and broken glass at her mother's feet.

"Oh, oh!" Linda was shaking as she looked at the mess frantically. "I'm so sorry Lucy, Le! Forgive me!" she bowed apologetically.

"Don't pick up the glass!" Lucy ordered as she stood up to find a broom to sweep up the mess. "I'm sorry Uncle Le but as you can see, your visit was very ill-timed. Perhaps we can discuss the will another day?" she all but spit the last few words at their visitor.

Le smiled, undaunted by the girl's angry aura. "Of course," he said. "See you soon, my Lucy."

"I'll tell you this now though," Lucy added as the older man brushed past her to leave, "You won't get what you want; I will protect Father's legacy no matter what."

* * *

Lucy made sure her mother was in bed before she went into her own bedroom and locked the door behind her. The teenager opened the door to the balcony.

"Puroromon, where are you?" she whispered.

"Lucy!" The stripe-less bee made a beeline towards the surprised girl. "What took you so long?!" it complained as it crashed into Lucy's chest. "I'm hungry!"

Lucy sighed as she brought the Digimon into her room. "Sorry, Puroromon, but I had a...very troublesome matter that I had to take care of first," she explained as she shut the door.

"Wow, Lucy, you have such a big room!" Puroromon cried excitedly as it buzzed around the room.

"Puroromon, slow down before you hit something!" Lucy scolded the bee, but to no avail. The girl sighed as she pulled out a bowl of fruit from the miniature freezer in her room.

"Oooh, what's this?" Puroromon buzzed over to the bowl and picked up a piece of grape. "I'm eating it!" it announced before putting the entire fruit in its mouth and swallowing it whole.

"Puroromon!" Lucy gasped. "That's dangerous! You should chew on it first!"

"Lucy, this is so good!" Puroromon ignored the girl's comment and picked up a banana. "I'm-"

"No!" Lucy grabbed the fruit away from the Digimon. "You have to peel it first, like this. And take smaller bites!"

"Lucy, you meanie..." Puroromon pouted. Lucy's face softened.

"It's for your own good," the teenager sighed as she cut the banana into sections. "I don't want you to choke or anything. Here, while you're eating, I'll get your bed ready, okay?"

"Yay! I get to sleep in Lucy's room!" Puroromon cried happily as pieces of banana flew across the room.

Lucy sighed again. "You were easier to take care of as Pupumon," she muttered.

* * *

Henry flopped onto the bed and winced; he had forgotten about the Digivice attached to his belt, and now it was poking onto his side.

"Watch it!" A very annoyed Commandramon barked from inside the device. "Did you forget that I was in here?!"

Henry let out a slow but loud breath. "Of course not," he sighed. "I'm just as tired as heck."

"You think you're tired?! Who do you think saved your life and jumped in to face Firamon back there, hm?!"

"Yeah, whatever," Henry muttered as he put the Digivice on the counter next to the bed. "Just quiet down in there, okay? I don't want the landlord's wife lecturing me again," he huffed.

"Landlord?" Commandramon's voice asked.

Henry nodded. "My parents, due to their work, are still in China, so during the school year I home-stay with a family friend," he explained.

Commandramon was silent for awhile. "Do you...do you miss them?" he finally asked.

The boy snorted. "Even if I do, what can I do about it?" he asked another question in reply. He sat up. "All I can do now is to keep studying hard so that they won't lose face. Now, where's that chemistry textbook of mine...?"

No sound came from the teal-coloured Digivice as Henry moved about the room, trying to find his book. "I thought you were tired," Commandramon's voice finally spoke up. "Is your family's name that important to you?"

Henry picked up a large orange hardcover book. "My grandfather once told me that our family was like a phoenix: no matter how many times we fell, we always rose from the ashes anew. Every act of betrayal only made us stronger..." the boy's voice faded out. Henry's hands wrapped around the textbook so tightly, his fingers left dents in the orange plastic.

There was another thoughtful silence from Commandramon. "We're really alike Henry, you know that?" the Digimon's voice replied. "But with one large difference."

Henry snorted. "Oh, and what's that?"

Before Commandramon could reply, there was a knock at the bedroom's door. "Guo Wei! _Dian hua_!" a female voice called from the other side.

"Guo Wei?" Commandramon muttered in confusion.

"It's my Chinese name," Henry explained, and to the door: "Coming, Auntie!"

* * *

"Who were you talking to?" A middle-aged woman asked as Henry came into the kitchen.

"Just practicing for a school's presentation..." the teenager lied. "Who's calling so late anyway? And at this number too! Is it Anna's old man again?! God, how many times...?!" He picked up the phone.

"Guo Wei, wait!" The woman pled, "It's-!"

"HELLO?!" Henry bellowed into the phone.

"...your father..."

A dreadful silence fell over the kitchen as Henry's face paled considerably while the person on the other end of the line spoke. "_Ni hao_,_ baba_," the boy managed to pull himself together. "Yes, yes...I'm doing fine...Yeah...uh huh...What? WHAT?!" he repeated, almost dropping the phone in his hands.

"Everything has already been arranged, Guo Wei," the voice on the other end spoke. "You will be leaving Canada this Sunday in order to come back home to Beijing. This was a decision made by your grandfather, so you have no-"

"How long?!" Henry blurted out as his father gave him the worst possible answer:

"I don't know."

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Dian hua_: 'Telephone' (in Chinese)

_Ni hao_: 'Hello' (in Chinese)

_Baba_: 'Father' (in Chinese, verbal form)


	12. Chapter 11: Friendship and Secrets

_2008 February 2, Vancouver_

_ Brookbridge Centre_

"Where is everyone?" Yoshino asked as she and Masaru sat down at a table across from Amy and Roscoe while Tohma went to get their breakfast.

"Amy and I thought we could have breakfast here at the mall, so we came early," Roscoe explained.

Masaru smirked. "Date?" he teased as the Russian blushed.

Amy glared at the Japanese. "Of course not!" she huffed. "There was, like, no food left in the fridge this morning, so I had to go out to get something to eat. And since Roscoe lived nearby, I just asked him for a ride!"

Yoshino turned to Roscoe, who was still blushing. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah...just...I'm fine!" the boy stammered as he pretended to be interested in his breakfast.

"That's Roscoe! Always there to help a friend!" Amy laughed as she gave her friend a pat on the back.

"Oh my..." Lalamon's voice giggled from the pink Digivice as Roscoe choked on his scrambled eggs.

"This is the worst," Yoshino sighed.

* * *

"Did they really expect me to carry all these?" Tohma muttered under his breath as he attempted to balance three trays of food in his hands. Suddenly, two pairs of hands reached over and took two trays, easing his load. Tohma looked up and saw two familiar faces.

"Good morning, Tohma!" Christina greeted the blond cheerfully. "Looks like you're having some trouble here, huh?" Allen, standing behind her, nodded his head in greeting.

"Chris!" At the sight of her best friend, Amy shot up from her seat. "You're here! Oh my god, you're wearing the clothes I brought you for your birthday!" she squealed. "They look so good on you!"

Masaru groaned as the two girls chatted loudly next to him. "What's up with girls?" he grumbled, covering his ears. "They just saw each other last night! Nothing to be excited about..."

"Good...Good morning."

The chaotic noise at the table magically disappeared as everyone turned to see Phoebe standing a bit far off from them. The girl stared down at her feet.

Tohma opened his mouth. "Good-" he began.

"Good morning!" Masaru grinned. He began to hand the girl a bottle of pop, but then saw a familiar head sticking out from her bag. "You!"

Plotmon smirked at the brunette. "_Ohaiyo_, Daimon Masaru-_kun_," she said casually, earning herself another glare from the Japanese. "Ruo Lan doesn't drink pop, but if that juice box over there is apple, hand it over."

"Hmph," Masaru grumbled as he handed Phoebe the object in question.

"Thank you..." the girl replied quietly.

A long awkward silence followed. "Uh..." Christina spoke first. She got up to take a closer look at her classmate. "That's a pretty scarf," she said sincerely, noticing the pink and blue material around Phoebe's neck. "Where did you get it?" The blue colours danced among the pink background before becoming small blue flowers at the edges.

Phoebe's face darkened, but only Tohma and Amy noticed. "I..." she hesitated as Plotmon looked up at her. "My mother had it in China many years ago. She has since passed it on to me," she finally replied quietly.

Before Christina could reply, Lucy came running over to them with a huge backpack strapped to her. "Tohma," she gasped in between deep breaths. "I need help." She put the large bag down on the chair and opened it.

The head of a gigantic yellow bee with blue antennae burst out of the bag, gasping for air. "I can breathe!" it gasped. "Lucy, you meanie, why...HEY!"

"Shh!" Lucy scolded the bee as she tried to push its head back into the bag. "People will see you!"

"Who's that?" Roscoe was the first to return to his senses.

Lucy sighed deeply. "It's...It _was_ Puroromon," she revealed.

Tohma glanced at his analyser. "Fan Beemon: Level – Child. Type – Insect. Attribute – Virus," he read. The blond looked up at Lucy and Fan Beemon. "It just evolved, Lucy," he explained calmly.

"How come?" Yoshino asked in English.

Lucy looked at the pink-haired girl. "I gave him some food last night, but then there was this bright light...and this was the result," she sighed, beckoning to the oversized bee in the backpack.

Fan Beemon grinned. "Living with Lucy is the best!" He squealed with excitement. "I have a warm bed, a hot bath whenever I want to, lots and lots of flowers in my room, and great food! Did you know that Lucy cooks all her-?"

Lucy put a hand over the Digimon's mouth."Hush Fan Beemon; you don't want other humans to see you, right?!" she scolded him.

Meanwhile, Masaru whispered something to Tohma, who nodded in reply. "Lucy, I hope you have your Digivice with you...Good, you do," he said. "Just remember: have it with you at all times. Now, can I please have a look at it? I want to verify something. Thank you."

Tohma and the two other members of his team looked at the olive-green and white device in front of them. "It looks like the only difference between theirs and ours is the logo," Yoshino observed, taking out her own Digivice. Instead of the white paw print, there was a three-pointer white crown beneath the screen on the front of the device.

"However, the button of the side is still there." He handed the Digivice back to Lucy. "Aim your Digivice at Fan Beemon and press that button on the side," he instructed. "Yes, like that. Now press."

As the button was pressed, the olive-green gem at the back of the device glowed. Fan Beemon began to disintegrate into free data before disappearing all together.

"Fan Beemon!" Lucy gasped as she stared at the screen on her Digivice. "Will he be alright in there?"

"It's a bit crowded, but otherwise, he'll be fine," Tohma explained. "Now, you can carry him around all-"

"Hey, there's Robert coming now!" came Amy's high-pitched voice. "Oh, over here..." Her voice faded when she saw who else was with her friend.

Both Tohma and Roscoe stood up at the same time. "Bill, what are you doing here?" the latter demanded as Robert laughed sheepishly.

* * *

The first thing Amy, Roscoe, and Christina did was to drag Robert away and out of earshot from the others. "Why did you tell him what you were doing today?!" Amy hissed at the sheepish boy.

"Yes, you've just made it harder for Tohma and the others to do their jobs," Roscoe added.

"Nice going, _Bobby pin_," was all Christina could say.

"I'm really sorry guys!" Robert pled, "but he really wanted to come along and since his father was in a bad mood again-"

"HELLO?!" Henry's voice was loud enough for the entire mall to hear.

"Henry!" Masaru stood on his seat and waved the teenager over. Said teenager quickly rushed over to them while the other people in the food court stared at him.

"Are you ready to have some fun?!" Henry asked his peers as soon as he reached the table. "First, I say we divide into teams so that the guys can hit the arcade while the girls do their shopping and God knows what else they do. Then after a few hours, we can meet and decide on a place for lunch. And in the afternoon-"

"Woah, slow down!" Allen interrupted, "Mapping out a schedule that you know we won't be able to follow. This is so not like you, Henry Wang."

"Yes, what's wrong?" Roscoe asked.

The smile on Henry's face disappeared. He turned to look at Christina, as if begging her to help him.

"I know that face," Christina said as her friend took a seat at the table next to Phoebe. "You got...the Call, right?" she asked quietly. Henry sighed and solemnly nodded.

"Your parents called?" Amy asked. For once, the mischievous look in her eyes had given way to worry. "What...what did they say?"

Henry took a deep breath, but didn't dare look at the others. "My father called me last night...I have to go back to China tomorrow!"

* * *

All hell broke loose around the table.

"What the fuck?!"

"You can't do that! How about that biology project due next week?"

"Yeah, don't your parents care about your grades?!"

"What's the reason?"

"Didn't your father at least ask for your input first?!"

Henry slammed his hands down on the table. "Will you all shut up for a moment?!" he hollered. As on cue, everyone stopped talking. Henry sighed. "It wasn't my father's decision, but my grandfather's."

"Well, doesn't your grandfather care-?" Bill began, but Christina put up a hand, silencing him.

"That's why...I have to go. I don't know when I will be back but...I'm sorry," Henry sighed as he stared down at his hands. "I really am..."

Amy looked like she was going to cry. "Chris, say something!" she begged her best friend, but Christina just turned away.

"Why is everyone acting like he's going to die or something?" Bill broke the tense atmosphere. "Sure, we won't be able to see him much, but we can always keep in touch!"

"Yeah, like we always do during the summer months when he and Christina are in China!" Robert reminded everyone.

"But's that different!" Amy was still not persuaded.

"Family..." Phoebe muttered, staring off into space. She blinked when she realized that everyone was looking at her, and blushed. "No, it's nothing," she quickly said.

"You're all still young; one long-distance relationship won't hurt," Plotmon added, but this only upset Amy even more.

Roscoe put a hand on Amy's shoulder to calm her down. "Friends and family are equally important," he told her, but his words were for everyone else as well. "Henry already spends nine months every year in Vancouver with us. It would be selfish of us to deny his parents and family more time with their only son. You understand, right?"

Amy sighed in defeat. "Can we at least have the best time in our lives today before you leave?" she asked Henry meekly.

Henry beamed. "Obviously!" he said as he stood up. "Watch out, mall; here we come!"

* * *

"Henry, what are you going to do about Commandramon?" Tohma asked when Bill was out of earshot.

"I was thinking about taking him with me," Henry replied as they passed a new game store. "Holy shit, the new game is finally here!"

"You know he can't be seen by your family or anyone else for that matter, right?" Tohma quickly followed the boy into the store.

Henry picked up a copy of the game and walked towards the cash register. "I know," he muttered. "God, the service here sure is slow! Hey, customer representative, over here! HEY!"

Tohma crossed his arms as Masaru picked up Henry by the collar of his shirt. "Listen well, Henry. Either you promise us to keep Commandramon out of sight in China, or he's coming back with us to DATS. What's your decision?" the blond asked.

"Put me down first!" Henry wrestled himself free. "I'll keep quiet, okay? Now, can you wait outside while I pay for this?!"

"HQ isn't going to be happy about this," Masaru told his teammate as they were ushered out of the store by security.

"We have no choice," Tohma replied. "Normally, DATS would have sent an agent to monitor him, but..."

"But what?"

The blond sighed. "I checked that guy's personal information on his school's database last night; everything about his family in China was classified information."

Masaru froze in his tracks. "That isn't normal, right?" he asked solemnly.

"No, except under one circumstance."

"His family works in the Chinese government?" Masaru asked. "Is that why you're afraid of sending someone to track him?"

"When Yoshino and I first joined DATS, the _taichou_ ordered us to avoid coming into contact with the Chinese government at all costs," Tohma explained. "Although he never elaborated on why, I'm beginning to suspect that the Chinese already know about the Digimon."


	13. Chapter 12: Destiny - Chance

"For God's sake, Amy, don't throw away your money so carelessly!" Allen scolded his friend. "That was only our second-"

"Oh, my gosh, a sale!" Amy ignored her friend and ran into the boutique. "Roscoe, come and help me choose the best outfits for _moi_!" she giggled.

"How does Roscoe put up with her?" Christina wondered aloud as Roscoe followed Amy into the store.

Allen smirked. "Isn't it obvious?"

"You think so?" his girlfriend asked.

"Yes, but sometimes, I think Amy's more interested in Henry. She's always so concerned for that guy's well being!"

Yoshino, who had been quietly tagging along behind them until now, saw her chance. "Christina...?" she began awkwardly. Said girl turned her attention towards the pink haired young woman. "You...you and Henry...how close are you two?" she asked.

"Childhood friends," Christina replied simply, pretending to be occupied with the rack of clothes in front of the store.

"Family friends?"

Yoshino received only a nod in reply. It was obvious the other girl was trying to avoid the subject. Yoshino decided that if the girl didn't want to talk, she would be very blunt.

"Family works for government?"

Christina whirled around to glare at the DATS agent. "Listen, I don't appreciate you DATS people sticking your noses into what doesn't concern you!" she snapped. "Our families are none of your businesses! If you know what's best for you, never speak about this topic again! Otherwise-!"

"Chris, calm down!" Allen grabbed his girlfriend's arm.

"Let go of me!" Christina pushed him away. Surprised, Allen fell to the ground.

"Chris..."

"Just leave me alone!" Christina cried.

"What happened?!" Roscoe exclaimed as he and Amy rushed over to them. Christina abruptly stormed away.

"Chris, come back!" Amy cried as she chased after her best friend.

"Amy!" Roscoe chased after both girls.

"Yoshino..." Lalamon's voice sounded anxious from the Digivice.

The DATS agent was unfazed by everything. "Lalamon, did you get all that? Good, we'll show it to Tohma and Masaru later," was all she said to her partner. And to herself, she thought:

_We have to complete our missions no matter what, even if it means becoming hated by everyone._

* * *

"Dude, are you trying to fatten him up for slaughter?" Bill exclaimed as Robert bought a box of pastries from the mall's bakery. "You already got him a box of chocolate and a dozen packs of Pocky!"

"Just trying to cheer him up!" Robert insisted. "After all, he's going to have a long and lonely plane ride ahead of him. I heard Henry's grandpa is really scary, so he's going to need all the strength he needs to face him head on! Now, why don't we get him some popcorn? You know he likes-HEY!"

Two dangerous-looking young men shoved their way past Robert, causing the latter to drop his box of pastries.

"Watch where you're going!" One of the two men, a man with bright red hair, snapped at them.

"The cakes..." Robert muttered, staring at the mushy mess on the ground.

Bill stepped forward. "You mean you better watch where you're going," he glared at the two men. He crossed his arms. "You're going to apologize or not for the cakes?"

The other man snarled, showing off his shiny new lip piercing. "The wimp had it coming."

"Why you...?!" Bill took another step forward.

"What's going on here?!"

"Oh, you have friends?" The man with the piercing laughed as Tohma, Masaru and Henry came running over to them.

"These two goons made Robert dropped his cakes!" Bill explained angrily. "And not only are they refusing to apologize, but they called him a wimp! Well, no one calls my friend a wimp and gets away with it!"

"Stop!" Tohma grabbed Bill before the tall boy could hit the two men. "Not now...Masaru!"

"Damn you!" The man with the piercing swore as Masaru punched him in the face. He crashed into the display case of an electronics store. The televisions on display began to flicker on and off.

"Alright, if you want a fight, then a fight you'll get!" the man with the red hair declared. "It's two against one anyway; we'll definitely beat you to a pulp!"

Masaru grinned as he rubbed his knuckles.

"Masaru..." Tohma warned as a small crowd began to gather around them.

"Don't worry; this won't take long," Masaru said. He beckoned towards the men, taunting them to come at him.

"That's it; I'm calling mall security!" Henry shouted as he whipped out his cell phone. However, the device refused to turn on. "What? I just charged it last night! What's going on here?!"

"You asked for it, punk!" The man with the pierced swore as he charged towards Masaru, just as every single electronic device in the display case burst into light.

* * *

"Leg warmers?" Phoebe repeated.

"Definitely, I can't have Fan Beemon's legs freezing in this cold weather now, can't I?" Lucy replied. "So, what colour will look best on him? How about this green one?"

Plotmon's head popped out from Phoebe's bag and saw the object in Lucy's hand. "I can't wait to see the look on Fan Beemon's face when he sees that," the puppy Digimon snickered.

Phoebe scanned the counter. Besides leg warmers, the table top was also littered with socks, stationery, cheap jewellery, and hair accessories. Phoebe's eyes were drawn to a fuzzy whale hair clip.

"That's cute," Lucy said as Phoebe picked it up. "If you ever let your hair down, you can use this to keep your bangs in check." Phoebe nodded, but her mind was elsewhere.

"Alice..." Phoebe muttered.

Lucy stopped rummaging around and glanced at her neighbour. "Phoebe?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

Phoebe blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" she asked quickly.

"Are you going to buy that hair clip or not?"

* * *

Christina gradually slowed down until she came to a halt altogether in front of a glass wall parallel to the mall's rooftop garden.

The girl let out a deep breath as she rested her head on the glass. "Those stupid DATS people," she muttered angrily. "Why can't they mind their own business?! Not only did they trash our school, but they also dragged Henry into this dangerous Digimon business of theirs! If Henry's parents find out, none of us will escape their wrath! Amy, Roscoe, Robert, Allen...Allen...I...I hit Allen..." Christina crumbled to the ground. "What have I done?!"

_Plop._

Christina looked up at the strange sound, realizing she was alone.

_Plop. Plop, plop._

"Water?" She realized. "But there's no restroom nearby. So where...?"

_Plop, plop, plop..._

Christina shook her head. "I'm hearing things now." She turned to look out at the rooftop garden, and froze.

A strange-looking pink and purple rabbit, roughly the size of Commandramon and Agumon, was looking at her from the other side of the glass. When Christina's eyes met the creature's red ones, a golden crescent moon on its forehead glowed.

The girl finally overcame her shock. "What is this...?"

The rabbit put a small pink paw on the glass, its mouth moving in silence. The crescent moon glowed again, and then the glass wall separating them was no more...

Christina suddenly found herself on the mall's rooftop garden.

"What...what's going on?" she exclaimed. "And who are you?!" She stared at the strange rabbit. "Are you a Digimon as well?"

"I am Lunamon," the creature replied, floating up to sit on a bare tree branch. Now, her eyes were levelled with Christina's. "Did you know? You are the first human to see me since I first came to the human world two years ago."

"Two years?!" Christina gaped. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"I was sent by my benevolent master to observe the humans," Luna replied. "And I must admit; they are much more interesting than I care to give them credit for."

Christina took a seat on a bench opposite the Digimon. "What are you going to do with the information that you have gathered on us?" she asked anxiously. "Are you going to use it against us?"

"Not necessarily," Lunamon replied, to Christina's surprise. "At least, not until I can judge your friends' intentions."

"Friends? You mean, those people from DATS? Tohma and the others?"

"If that is what you call them. I am concerned about their practice of destroying Digimon and sending their Digi-Eggs back to the Digital World. While not as bad as what happened sixteen years ago, the morals of doing so are nevertheless still questionable. Christina Liu..." Lunamon addressed her.

"How do you know my name?"

"Many years ago, my benevolent master prophesized that I would meet a human ally who would be my sun, and who would help me to know myself. Since you saw me, I believe that that human...is you, Christina."

"Oh no...oh no..." Christina stood up and took a few steps back. "There's no way that I'm getting myself into this dangerous Digimon business like Henry! I'm sorry, Lunamon, but I refuse."

"It is your destiny."

"I don't believe in destiny."

"You may not, but I do," Lunamon snapped, glaring at the girl with her bright red eyes. "Because I am the moon, I am reliant on a sun to wield force and influence. I move passively in the shadows, but even the shadows need light to exist and to become larger. Similarly, I need the strength of another to gain strength myself for evolution. Isn't it the same for you? Don't you have someone to lean on for support and strength? Your own sun?"

"No..." Christina replied quietly. Lunamon frowned.

"Liar."

Before Christina could reply, a rumbling sound got her attention. "What's that?!" she exclaimed as the ground trembled beneath her. Lunamon closed her eyes.

"That," the rabbit Digimon revealed, "is the sound of your friends engaging a Digimon."


	14. Chapter 13: Resolve in the Face of Death

"Mon...Monster!" The man with the red hair shook with fear as what looked like a dragon-human hybrid towered over him. The creature threw a sword at him. He screamed like a girl as it zipped past his head. "I'm getting out of here!"

"I'm with you!" His companion agreed as both men scrambled away.

"A Digimon!" Yoshino gasped as she and Allen arrived at the scene. Everyone else was running away in the opposite direction. "Lalamon, Realize! You know what to do!"

"**Sing a Song!**" The Plant Digimon opened its small mouth. A blanket of sleep was cast over most of the humans in the mall.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Bill swore as he uncovered his ears. He turned to Robert, Henry and Allen, who were with him. "You three better have a good explanation for this!" he demanded as sleeping bodies dropped to the floor all around them.

"Arghh!" Masaru grunted as he came into contact with the hybrid Digimon. He grabbed the creature's left arm, halting him from swinging his sharp sword around. "_Kisama_..." the brunette swore.

"Watch out!" Henry yelled as the Digimon got ready to slice the Japanese in half with another blade.

"Sank you!" Masaru shouted back as he jumped up to avoid the creature's attack. "Take this!" Masaru swore as he kicked the Digimon in the face.

"Punch him, _aniki_!" Agumon cried. "So I can evolve!"

"_Matte!_" Tohma insisted. "You can't! GeoGreymon, or any of our Digimon's Adult forms for that matter, will destroy this place! We have to stop these Dinohumon another way! Gaomon!" The blond is distracted as his Digimon partner is sent reeling from another Dinohumon's attack.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Masaru demanded furiously, just as the Digimon named Dinohumon slipped free from his grasp. "Damn it!" The brunette winced in pain as the Digimon sliced at his arm.

"**Baby Flame!**" Agumon attacked before the Digimon could finish Masaru off. "I won't let you hurt _aniki_ anymore!" Agumon vowed angrily as he grabbed Dinohumon's largest sword with his own claws.

The Dinohumon merely glared at him and put even more pressure on his sword. Agumon closed his eyes as his knees began to buckle from the weight. "_Aniki_..." the Digimon mourned in pain.

Masaru stood up shakily, holding his blood-soaked left arm. "I...I can still fight!" he gasped as sweat rolled down his face.

Dinohumon's eyes opened wide in surprise as the injured Masaru grabbed at the hilt of the sword with his uninjured hand. Slowly, Agumon's knees unbuckled.

"Even if Agumon can't evolve, I'll still stand by his side until the very end!" Masaru vowed as he gave Dinohumon a look that had the latter sweating. "That's what a man does!"

* * *

"Without governmental support, we'll never be able to cover it up..." Tohma muttered to himself as he jumped out of the path of Dinohumon's giant sword _Akinakes_. It cleanly chopped a marble table in half. "What to do...what to do...?"

"**Double Backhand!**" Gaomon quickly spun close to the Adult Digimon and managed to deliver a clean strike, sending the latter face-first into the ground.

"He's really persistent," Tohma muttered as Dinohumon got to his feet again, albeit slower this time. "But in order to protect the sleeping people in this building, we have to emerge victorious, no matter the costs!" he vowed as Gaomon and Dinohumon clashed again.

"I will get my revenge..."

Both Tohma and Gaomon raised an eyebrow as Dinohumon spoke for the first time. "Revenge?" Gaomon repeated as the two Digimon leapt away from each other.

Dinohumon glared at them with something that could only be called hatred in his eyes. "The humans must die!" he vowed. "**Lizard Dance!**"

_This speed...It's like all his fatigue disappeared all of a sudden!_ Gaomon realized as Dinohumon's launched a barrage of quick and powerful slices and at him.

"Gaomon!" Tohma shouted as his partner failed to keep up with his opponent's multiple swords. "Hold on, I'm coming!" the blond called as he picked up a metal pole from the railing that Dinohumon had conveniently ruined earlier.

"Master, be careful!" An injured Gaomon called out to his master as human and Digimon came into contact with each other.

"Strong..." Tohma winced as he felt Dinohumon's _Akinakes_ weighing down on the metal pole.

"Foolish human, you'll never defeat me," Dinohumon snarled. "And by taking your life, I will finally avenge my family!"

* * *

"...And so it's like that," Robert finished explaining everything from last night to Bill. "Sorry for keeping it a secret from you."

"You're forgiven," Bill said immediately and grabbed his friend by the collar of his shirt. "Let's get the heck out of here before we all get killed!"

"Are you even listening to me?! I said I want out! Henry, you bastard!" Commandramon was throwing a tantrum inside Henry's Digivice. "Let me fight them! If I evolve to Sealsdramon, I can finish them off in one swoop!"At that moment, both Masaru and Agumon are thrown against the wall.

Henry hesitated. "No...I can't..." he muttered as Dinohumon nearly decapitated Agumon. "No..."

"Yoshino, there's another one!"

Lalamon's voice caused the teenage boys to look up at the rafters, where another Digimon was glaring down at them.

"Ryudamon?" Yoshino asked, glancing up from her Digivice. "Are you with the Dinohumon as well?!"

"No," the armoured Digimon replied, jumping down from the ceiling. "But our motives are the same. Humans, I challenge all of you to a duel! **Iaijin**!"

"**Nuts Shoot!**" Lalamon attacked.

"Duck!" Allen shouted as the Plant Digimon's attack caused a change in the trajectory of the iron blade weapon.

"Bill!" Robert screamed as the blade scratched his friend's face. Bill fell to his knees as blood squirted out from the scratch on his cheek.

"Do not move!" Yoshino said harshly as she rushed over to the injured teenager. The DATS agent pulled out a first-aid kit from her bag. "I help you!"

"Shut up!" Bill pushed the woman's hand away. He stared at the blood in the palm of his hand. "Bastard..." he swore, his eyes wide open.

Meanwhile, Lalamon fired again: "**Nuts Shoot!**"

"**Kabutogaeshi!**" Ryudamon shouted as his helmet and armour withstood the exploding attack. Then, he counter-attacked.

"Ah!" Lalamon cried in pain as Ryudamon hit her with his strong defense.

"Lalamon, why do you choose to side with the humans?" Ryudamon asked as his opponent struggled to stand back up.

"Yoshino...is...my friend!" Lalamon gasped. "I'll protect her!"

"Friend?" Ryudamon repeated. He scoffed. "How can the humans, who killed thousands of innocent Digimon, understand values such as friendship?" He prepared to finish Lalamon off. "**Iai**-"

"Stop!" Yoshino suddenly screamed.

"Arghhh!" Bill yelled as he lunged at Ryudamon, sending both of them to the ground. "How dare you? How dare you?!" he kept repeating as he punched the armoured Digimon. More and more blood streamed down his pale face.

"He's lost it!" Robert wailed. "This always happens whenever he sees blood!"

"Foolish human, do you want to die?!" Ryudamon yelled as he pushed the tall boy off him. "A samurai such as I have no business dealing with a weakling such as yourself!"

"Weakling? Who are you calling a weakling?!" Bill gasped as he delivered another blow to the Digimon's already-dented helmet. With a loud noise, the bronze brim cracked.

"He cracked Ryudamon's heavy armour!" Lalamon gasped as the two halves of the brim fell into a crimson puddle.

"What's going on out there?!" Commandramon demanded.

"Lalamon!" Yoshino shouted.

"I can't get a clean shot!" her partner replied as she watched Bill and Ryudamon rolling on the ground.

"Bill, stop it! You need medical treatment, now!" Robert sobbed. "Just stop it!"

"Do you want to die?!" Henry shouted angrily. "Die...?" he repeated, but to himself, as if he had suddenly realized something.

"**Tear Shot!**"

A ball of water came down on Bill and Ryudamon. The force was strong enough to separate the struggling pair. A pink and purple rabbit floated down towards Lalamon.

"Who are you?" Yoshino stared at the strange new Digimon.

"Christina, you're safe!" Allen breathed a sigh of relief as his girlfriend came running over. "Where have you-?!"

"Bill! Robert!" Christina's attention was instead focused on her injured classmate and crying friend. "What happened?!"

The rabbit glanced at Christina and Allen. "I am Lunamon," she answered Yoshino's question. "And it seems that the 'full moon' will come earlier than expected today."

* * *

_A/N:_ Classes will start for me next week, so I probably won't be updating for long periods of time, especially since I'm in my last year in university and need to concentrate on my graduating thesis. Nevertheless, I intend to finish this story eventually, so expect about a chapter or two every month starting in September 2013. Other than that, thanks to all my readers and I hope you will continue reading even 'When the Bells Ring' (no pun intended).


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